


Who Says Fairy Tales Only Happens In Books?

by CsillaDream



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love at First Sight, M/M, Past Character Death, Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-17 00:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1367371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CsillaDream/pseuds/CsillaDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu is a very "keep-to-myself"-sort of person who has had a hard time making friends, mostly because he doesn't share the same interests that most people of his age. He works at bookstore in the busy city of Magnolia, which has been in the Dragneel family for generations. It's a really cozy place away from his peers and Natsu would love to just spend the entire day there. Then, he meets Gray Fullbuster…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He's Strange

Chapter One: He's Strange

It was 3:30, an impatient rosette mentally noted glaring down at the poor cellular device that dared told him he was still 30 minutes away from his haven. He shoved the plastic black cell phone back into the pocket of his jeans, shifting a little to get comfortable again as he stood in the aisle of the subway train. He had given his seat to an elderly couple; manners that had been drilled into his head ever since he could walk by his father. He could hear a dull noise of other teens, his peers, a few feet away forcing the rosette to focus on his haven: the bookstore where he worked. Thirty minutes of stop and go, the rosette was finally at his stop; he slipped past all the other passengers who had just taken notice to arriving at a stop. He ran up the stairs of the station using his momentum to pivot on his toes, rounding the corner to see his haven in the close distance.

'Almost there...' He gleamed, smiling to himself as he brushed past slower-walking people before stepping inside the familiar atmosphere of his father's bookstore.

"Ah! Natsu, you're here? A new shipment of books came in today, do you mind taking care of it first?" The rosette looked over to the cash register to see his dad pointing to the room where shipments were placed until they could be put away; said rosette nodded his head before heading back to the room his father had pointed to.

"Nggh," The box was heavier than it looked; Natsu hefted it up enough so he could carry it into the room he had just left, one glance told him that he needed to head to the 'Best Sellers' section.

He set the box down in front of the display for best selling books; he opened the box and began putting the book on the shelf carefully, listening to the background noise of his dad ringing customers' purchases. He liked being here. The bookstore had been in his family for generations, which was a lot than other people could boast about; Natsu was more than happy to spend all of his free time here instead of out with his peers.

"Is this the new book by Kristen McIll-?" Natsu looked up to see a male his age, who stopped mid-sentence when the duo locked eyes, with messy raven hair pointing to the book he had just shelved.

Ignoring the simple fact that the author's name was clearly in big bold red letters, Natsu stood up grabbing a book on his way: "Yes, they actually just arrived today" with a smile. He extended the book out to the male, who took it into his own hands before turning the book over and by the look on his face wasn't pleased with the price of said book.

"Damn... 35.68 for this... Ultear, I swear... you really are a pain," Natsu heard the other groaned in defeat as the male put the book back onto the shelve before leaving.

"That was weird..." Natsu mumbled as he placed the last book on the shelve as he heard the male and his dad talk: "Leaving already, Gray?" "Yeah, haha" and with that the door opened and closed.

He tossed the box into the back room before walking over to the cash register, curious if his dad knew the strange teen; "Hey Dad, did you know that guy?"

"Who? Gray...? Yeah, he comes in here everyday,"

'Huh?' "Really? Then how come this is the first time I've seen him here," Natsu knew he worked everyday here and he knew all the regular customers so how did this 'Gray' slip by unnoticed.

"Yup, he comes everyday around the same time... If I remember correctly, his family just moved here" His father spoke, rubbing his chin adding in a soft tone: "I had offer him and his family to dinner"

"Dad! You barely know the guy! He could be some perverted-" "-sexy beast-" "sexy beast - wait, what?" Natsu's head turned to the cause of his slip-up: the strange teen named Gray.

"I forgot something," Gray muttered, walking over to the best sellers section picking up the book Natsu had only moments before handed to him.

Natsu watched dumbfounded, 'Was this guy an idiot or something?', as Gray paid for the book adding: "Before I forget, Mr. Dragneel-"

"Please call me Igneel,"

"Ah, Igneel... My mom said it was a really great idea and was wondering if tomorrow night would be good." Gray lifted the bag off the counter waving bye to Igneel before chuckling as he brushed past Natsu.

'What the hell was that about?' Natsu felt like screaming; he couldn't understand the raven, which meant a lot considering he couldn't understand why his peers were so hooked on partying and whatnot.

"He seems to be more comfortable now," Igneel walked away to chit-chat with the other customers, leaving Natsu alone standing staring at the door until his legs started screaming for movement.

Natsu sighed and continued his work: helping customers, working the cash register, and organizing books. Finally his work was done, his dad was counting the money in the register as he locked the front door and pulled the curtains down on the windows.

"I'm leaving first. See you at home, Dad" Natsu announced, heading out the back door locking it on his way because he knew his dad would forget.

He sighed, walking towards the subway station to catch the 9:15 train; as usual the train at this time of night is empty enough that Natsu would be able to sit after the five hours of standing. He leaned his head back against the chilled glass windows; his trip home would take about twenty minutes, which was always enough to relax after work. Twenty minutes passed quickly as Natsu thought more on Gray, the strange teen. Said teen continued to stake a place in Natsu's mind as he walked home; he figured his dad would make him go with the excuse that he could make a friend. Unlocking the front door of the Cape Cod house him and his dad lived, Natsu knew his usual reasoning would fall on deaf ears; Gray constantly came to the bookstore! He flopped down on his bed, hoping tomorrow would pass by without him.

He

wasn't

ready

for

another

disappointment.


	2. Dinner...?

Chapter Two: Dinner...?

To say that Natsu wasn't looking forward to seeing Gray again would be the an understatement of the century; tonight was the night that his dad had agreed to dinner with Gray's family.

"Who cares if they're new?" The irritation was written all over the teen's face as he rode the train after school; his dad had mentioned in a text that they would be closing shop at 4, meaning no work for Natsu today. He wasn't sure if it was the impending doom of spending time with another person that wasn't his dad or work-related or the high-pitched giggling from the group of girls, who were (in Natsu's opinion) up to no good.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Yeah, I think so - What do you think he's doing going into the city?"

"Probably to go infect another place with his weirdness"

Natsu sighed; he slipped his phone out of his pocket, browsing through its contents until he came across a year-old text message. His eyes scanned over each word in hopes of finding something he hadn't before; unaware that the girls were planning on doing something horrible, he didn't notice when one of them moved over towards him until he felt the seat shift. His cobalt eyes widened in surprise then noticed that one of the girls from the giggling group was closer and obviously irritated by the person who sat down beside him.

"G-Gray-sama? Y-Y-You must stay away from him... He's bad luck," Natsu recognized the girl that spoke as Juvia, a girl in his Phys. Ed class who constantly pretended to have her period.

'but wait-! G-Gray-sama?' The teen eyed the one sitting beside him, who didn't seem so thrilled about what was just said; "Why should I? We're going to the same place," He sighed, relaxing as Juvia and the others moved away.

"Sorry about that... I saw they were about to do something nasty so I intervened,"

Natsu barely registered his comment and instead scoffed: "Gray-sama? Really? You just moved here and already you're the eye-candy for the girls," jerking his head to hide his irritation with the raven at the moment. Although, he was slightly grateful Gray stepped in when he did; god only knows what those girl would have done.

"Don't ask me... It's not like I want to be eye-candy for any girl," Gray muttered, turning his head away from Natsu's peripheral vision to hide the pink dusting his cheeks.

The rest of their trip into the city went by quietly (and awkwardly) but finally the stop to Natsu's haven was mentioned; Gray followed in suit behind the rosette out the metal doors of the subway train. The thoughts of what his dad would do to him was beginning to haunt Natsu's well-being; said rosette inhaled deeply before speaking: "So its Gray, right?"

"Uh... Yeah but how did you-"

"My dad mentioned it yesterday,"

"Oh,"

"So... w-where did you move from?"

"Edolas,"

Natsu stopped moving the moment Gray stopped speaking; 'Edolas...?' He couldn't believe it; "erm... Natsu...?" Gray walked over in front of him, curious as to what caused the rosette to stop like that but was not expecting what he saw: tears forming.

"Hey," placing a hesistant hand on a clothed tanned shoulder, "Natsu... you okay?" Gray wondered if Natsu had some bad memories with his old town but those thoughts were put on hold once he heard Igneel call out to them: "Ah! Gray! Natsu! Over Here!"

Natsu seemed to snapped out of his stump and look over to his dad before his eyes glanced back to Gray, who in his opinion magically was in front of him. And touching his shoulder; the rosette snapped away from Gray and walked over to his dad pushing aside his depressing thoughts for now.

"I don't see why we have to tag along - Gray's the one who wanted to do this," Natsu heard an adolescent girl huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Ultear, there's nothing wrong with accepting a dinner invitation especially when we just moved here" Gray's mother sighed, patting the girl's head as the two families headed for the restaurant across the street.

/ - - - - - /

So there the families sat, Natsu and Gray being the bridge between the two; Igneel and Ur chatting up a storm, leaving Natsu to fend for himself against the three siblings: Gray, Ultear, and a small boy with silver hair. Ultear kept her attention to her purple cell phone, obviously bored with their predicament already. Lyon kept scribbling on the paper place mat; which only left Gray and Natsu with nothing to do but talk...?

"So... uh," already struggling with keeping their dying conversation alive, "how did those girls know you?" Natsu mumbled.

"They," sighing, "saw me on when I went to visit my new school today," Gray mumbled back, regretting telling the group of girls his name earlier today.

Their conversation was interrupted when Igneel patted Natsu's head saying, "This is great - Gray's mom tell me that he'll be going to same school as you, Natsu"

Natsu let out a sigh about to glare at his dad when he saw a familiar set of silver-haired young adults walk into the restaurant; his heart beat quickened as recognition sank in and then he dove under the table. Gray's eyes followed him down about to ask but instead him and Igneel only got: "I'm not here!" in a hiss.

"Oh! Mr. Dragneel, why hello~" A soft voice greet them; Igneel chuckled, "Mirajane! Elfman! It's been too long. How have you been?"

Mirajane and Elfman smiled down at Igneel before Natsu heard a dreadful question: "Is Natsu not here with you? He's not the type to skip out on a free meal," from Mirajane.

"H-He's-"

"He couldn't make it you see he," Gray was at a loss for words, "he just got this book and couldn't pass up the chance to read it," Gray added, hoping it would sound believable to someone he'd never met.

"That sounds like him, alright~" Mirajane laughed, before waving goodbye to Igneel and walking with Elfman to their table.

"They're gone, Natsu..." Gray muttered, loud enough for the rosette to hear under the table; said rosette slid back up the seat just as their food had arrived.

"Thanks," He whispered to the raven beside him before digging into the plate of steamy-hot food in front of him.

"How was your day, Natsu?" Natsu tensed, wondering what he could tell his dad that wouldn't bring a frown to his dad's face.

"Well, 'same old - same old'-"

"Except for the 'getting saved by Gray' part," Gray muttered, thinking he had said it only loud enough for Natsu to hear but as luck would have it: Igneel did as well.

"What?"

Both teens froze; Natsu because the other had actually said that and Gray because he hadn't expected anyone but Natsu to hear.

"Well..." Gray started.

"You see..." Natsu began.

The duo was really trying to stall to avoid talking about; the raven feeling guilty for saying it and the rosette out of embarrassment. Igneel stared down the boys, concerned about what sort of incident needed one saving the other. Gray's eyes darted over to the fidgety Natsu beside him, as more guilt washed over him before he inhaled deeply and explained: "There was a group of girl from our school that were about to start something so before they could I sat down next to him... to sort of prevent it, you know. That's all," chuckling nervously at the end.

The raven had hoped he didn't just make Natsu out to be a wimp or something; the rosette seemed to relax, which comforted Gray a little on the inside.

"Is that all?" Igneel eyed his son cautiously; Natsu nodded his head in agreement before the two teens slowly went back to eating their dinner.

Dinner was proceeding well for Natsu; he had almost forgotten that Mira and Elfman had come into the restaurant. Well, almost: "Ah! Natsu, there you are! How have you been?" Natsu's shoulders instantly tensed and his cobalt eyes widened; he sat with a forkful of spaghetti hanging from his mouth and, as Gray noticed from the corner of his eye, his hand closest to the raven began trembling. Questions began to fill the raven's mind about the silver-haired duo and their relationship to Natsu.

"H-He j-just got here so... uh... he's pretty exhausted, you should just let him eat," Gray lied, hoping to get rid of Elfman so he could possibly find out about Natsu's strange behavior.

He didn't miss the wide surprised cobalt eyes that were now staring at him as he stared up at Elfman, praying he would just leave; and said man did just that. A sigh of relief escaped the raven's mouth before he felt his face grow warm from Natsu still staring over at him, whipping his attention back to the food he sat still for a moment before deciding to go to the bathroom to cool down. His hand followed in suit as he quickly got up to go cool down but not before smacking into the glass of Dr. Pepper he had ordered, which flipped and landed right into Natsu's lap!

"Ah! Shit!" Natsu whined, ignoring the complaint from his dad about his language, as he tried to dry the soda off his lap.

"I-I'm sorry," The raven immediately apologized; biting his bottom lip in anger and frustration.

"Why don't you help him clean it up in the bathroom, Gray?" Ur suggested quietly, pointing to the bathroom that was on the other side of the room.

"C'mon," Gray dragged the rosette off his chair and quickly through the room then into the bathroom.

Once inside, Gray peeked back to see the soda 'damage' on Natsu's pants; he knew it must be sticky and probably uncomfortable for the rosette. His eyes traveled up without thinking until he locked eyes with cobalt eyes; Gray turned away, his face heating up several degrees of red from embarrassment. The sound sneakers squeaking against the floor snapped the raven's attention back. Realization covered Gray's face; the soda was making the jeans stick to Natsu's skin uncomfortably.

"Strip,"

"Wait... w-what?"

"Go into one of the stalls and give me your pants," turning away blushing, "so I can at least get the soda out," He added in a more shaky hush voice.

"W-what i-if s-someone walks in...?" Natsu knew Gray was trying to help him; the raven shrugged his shoulders replying, "I'll l-lock the door,"

Natsu headed into the closest stall as the raven moved to lock the door; the duo would have to get this done quickly before they cause a scene. The rustling of jeans followed by: "Here," made Gray quickly grab the offered jeans and move over to the sinks.

He pushed the faucet until the water was coming out at a medium-pressure; he grabbed a little hand soap and grind it into the the denim before rinsing them off.

"Okay, now to dry them" Gray muttered, more for Natsu's comfort than anything else, as he smacked the button on the air dryer; the raven had made sure only to wet the part that was sticky to prevent a long waiting time.

Once the pants were dry, Gray handed them back to Natsu who in turn quickly slid them back on as small talk was bounced back and forth between them: "Better?"

"Yeah"

"..."

"Thanks"

"No problem"

The duo left, glad that no one was talking about the men's room being locked or anything as they walked back to their table. Neither of their parents seemed to notice they had returned, the dinner continued and finally ended without any problem. Natsu and his dad headed down the stairs to the subway while Gray and his family walked straight. Feeling a little regretful, Natsu swung around promising he would be right back running back up the stairs and nearly crashing into a body that was about the same size as his.

"N-Natsu?" The rosette instantly recognized that voice as Gray's; he looked up to see a surprised expression, which he was sure matched his.

"Uh... I um... er... w-wanted t-to say," inhaling deeply before blurting out: "G-Good night, Gray" He swung around and began running back down the stairs.

"Natsu," the sound of his name made the rosette stop and glance back nervous of what would be said next, "Night," Gray added with a small smile before disappearing from Natsu's vision.

A smile spread across Natsu's features as he finished his descent down the stairs and stepping into the subway train; when his dad pointed it out, the rosette tried hard to stop but in the end he couldn't and he didn't understand why.


	3. The News

Chapter Three: The News

Natsu leaned against the door of the subway train thinking back to the dinner that had occurred a few nights ago; the rosette never expected it to go so well especially after Elfman and Mirajane showed up. Natsu's lips thinned as he tried his hardest not to think any further on the two and their-

He shook his head to get rid of the thought before his mind could finish it; he stared out the window watching the monotone wall passing by trying to wake himself up before the train stopped at his school. The rosette sigh; a part of him wasn't looking forward to hearing Gray's fanclub squealing during the odd hours known as morning, which he couldn't escape because of the other part of him. The part that was happy that Gray actually wanted to be around him almost as if they were friends? Natsu wondered if this was actually what it felt like to have a friend. His ears perked up when he heard his school's stop announced over the intercom; pushing himself off the door, he waited until the train came to a stop.

"Gray-sama!" A chorus of squeals was the first thing Natsu heard as he exited the subway station; he glared at the raven who was obviously waiting for him at the front gate.

The rosette sighed again crossing the street before making eye contact with Gray, who weaved himself away from the fanclub girls just to walk in step with him. Natsu knew that they were probably to be the oddest pair - Gray being the 'instant-popular' guy and Natsu being the weird one - to be seen together as if it was natural for them. No matter how much Natsu tried to explain that hanging around him would damage his popularity, the raven brushed it off with the constant: "I don't care... I want to to be around you,"

"So meet me up on the roof at lunch, okay?" The raven reminded the rosette as they parted ways for their classes.

\- Second Period -

Natsu sighed as the teacher droned on about a project they would be doing together with another English class; the rosette knew that he would be the last picked as usual, "You will be matched up randomly by your four-digit student ID number, aye" or maybe worse. His head sunk down; his partner will, without a doubt, beg to get a new partner once he/she sees who they got matched with.

"Alright the list is up, aye!" Cobalt eyes glanced past his Happy-sensei, his English teacher to see the list and moreover his ID number.

"5977... I'm paired up with 6450," leafing through his notebook until he came upon a page with a list of four-digit numbers, "nope... haven't been paired with them yet," He sighed, closing the book as his teacher explained further: "Now those with ID numbers between 5960 and 6460 head to class 2-E to get your partner and those remaining wait while yours show up here,"

Natsu grabbed his things and followed behind his fellow students; the trip was short and soon he was awaiting for the teacher to point them to the student that they had been paired with. The rosette told his ID number to the teacher as instructed; "Oh - your partner is the one by the window with raven hair... Gray Fullbuster," Natsu knew he had all the girls in the room glaring daggers at him once the name left Carla-sensei's mouth.

The teen nodded his head and walked over to Gray, feeling self-conscious the closer he got to him; "Oh hey Natsu, are you my partner?"

"Uh... y-yeah," Natsu sat down beside him, trying to ignore the obvious disgust (from the girls) with him being so close to all their 'Gray-sama'.

The duo sat as Carla-sensei explained: "Now the project that Happy-sensei and myself planned involves the following: for all of you pairs to learn hands-on about plays and the acting involved. Each of you will be picking a scene from this hat," hoisting up a velvet black magician top hat, "You will have one month to perfect, "a chorus of groans interrupted the female teacher, "It's only one scene! You will be graded how well you do it - basically if you put a lot effort into the scene: you'll pass. If you bullshit it then you'll fail!"

Carla-sensei began walking around the classroom offering the hat to each pair of students; Gray reached into the hat, slowly pulling out a folded piece of paper. Once his teacher had walked off to let other student pairs pick their scenes, the raven slowly leaned over towards the rosette; the unfolded piece of paper stared back at the two boys sitting awestruck back at it.

"D-Does t-that s-say what I think it does?" Natsu couldn't believe his eyes that their scene was that! That, of all things!

"I call dibs on Romeo," The raven quickly called, ignoring the instant glare he received from a flabbergasted rosette; height-wise it made sense: Gray did tower him by a few inches and in another sense (one that the raven didn't want to admit just yet) he just wanted to be the one-

"No fair," Natsu pouted, interrupting Gray's thoughts, staring off to the side knowing that the month would be passing very slowly.

Lucky for Natsu, the class ended and the classes before lunch passed by quickly; the rosette was heading up to the roof where he had reluctantly agreed to meet Gray today.

"...and not to mention he's such a freak!" A tanned hand froze as horrible words filled his ears, recognizing the voice as Juvia he sighed; the rosette was about to turn around and walk away when a voice stopped him: "What the fuck are you talking about? Natsu is anything but a freak... He's an amazing guy that doesn't deserve little bitches like you talking bad about him!"

"G-Gray... s-s-stop," licking his somehow dry lips, "i-if y-you s-say a-anymore," moving out of sight when the door flung open and Juvia appeared angry, running down the stairs.

"Stupid woman," Natsu heard the raven's voice closer now, peering around he saw that the other was standing in the doorway; the rosette's legs moved and now both teens stood facing one another.

"I meant it, ya know... what I said about you," Gray mumbled to Natsu's surprise; the duo ate their lunch in silence after that.

A soft buzz was the first noise to silence through the silence; Natsu wiggled his hand down into his pocket to retrieve the plastic device then read the cause of the noise: a text from his dad. Gray glanced over with a look that clearly said: 'What is it about?'; Natsu sighed: "My dad wants to talk to me tonight after work,"

"Sounds bad - what did you do?"

"Not a clue,"

And thus their conversation ended and their lunch followed shortly with the sound of the bell inviting them to head to their next class; the day flew by and finally Natsu was at work, his haven. In the back of his mind, he wondered what his dad wanted to talk about; he didn't even acknowledged Gray entering the store, which was something the rosette noticed he really did do everyday. Nine o'clock rolled around, customers had left Natsu to tend to any mess they might had made during store hours; Igneel watched his son before finally speaking up: "Natsu... we should talk,"


	4. Day One

Chapter Four: Day One

Natsu stood alone on the doorstep of two-story condo; he could hear his dad behind him in the car telling him to ring the doorbell already. He couldn't believe his dad was doing this to him; the rosette was perfectly capable of taking care of himself for two weeks but no! His dad had to ask if he was planning on going anywhere within two weeks and of course the rosette had to explain about the joint English project (of course he didn't go into detail). Inhaling deeply, the rosette pressed the taunting opal button and shortly after heard yells coming towards him: "I'm serious, mom! I don't need anybody's help- ah! N-Natsu... w-what are you d-doing here?" Gray, in Natsu's opinion, appeared not to know who was the one helping him watch over his siblings; the duo turned their heads as they heard the roar of an engine driving away.

"Natsu, you're here? Come in," Ur greeted the rosette, motioning for him to enter; Natsu did as he was told, brushing past the raven quietly that in turn shut the door.

"She should have just told me it was you," Gray muttered, hiding the dusting on his cheeks from the curious cobalt eyes.

Natsu stood, unsure what to do; he had never been over anyone's house but-

"Y-You can d-drop your s-stuff in my room," The rosette's attention dove straight onto the raven, who was motioning for the other to follow him up the stairs. Natsu did as he was told, not wanting to lose the only friend he's made since- Again, the rosette's thoughts were interrupted by Gray's voice: "You'll be sharing my room with me - There's plenty of space but I'll warn you that you get to have the bottom bunk... Lyon has a habit of pouncing into the room on the weekends,"

"Thanks for the warning," Natsu couldn't help but smile a little because of the raven's warning.

Gray opened a door at the end of a short hallway; inside cobalt eyes flew all over, taking in: the television set with a X-Box Kinetic; the small shelf unit of games; the two tall bookcases of books (mixing manga with hardback books). A small dark oak desk sat beside a window framed with dark blue curtains. A metal futon bunk bed sat in the opposite wall, which was adorned in silver bedding with a large blue comforter on the top and a black one on bottom. Natsu could only assume that the other had made the bed for him; the thought alone made a pink dusting spread across his face. He placed his duffle bag on the wooden floor; the raven moved past him chuckling: "Do you want to get started on practicing on our project? I don't like to push things off until the end,"

"I-I guess..." Butterflies had suddenly began fluttering inside Natsu's stomach as he knelt down to retrieved the scene script Carla-sensei had emailed them yesterday along with additional info on their project.

"I can't believe we have to do our own interpretation of Act Three - Scene Five... and we can't even skip over the kiss part," The raven muttered out, displeased with how the awkwardness of their scene grew.

"L-Let's just improvise and write down the good lines we come up with," The rosette suggested, earning a swift nod from the other.

Their practice today, needless to say, was very awkward; they had agreed to figure something out about the kiss Romeo gives Juliet in the beginning. Somehow by the end, both boys had ended up sitting on the futon side by side staring at one another; realization that they both became too entranced into the scene to notice how close they had gotten sent both teens flying away from one another in embarrassment.

"S-S-Sorry," Both flustered teens only turned darker with their apologies coming out at the same time.

Their awkward silence was finally ended with Ur calling both teens for dinner; neither spoke to one another as they headed down the stairs and into the dining room. Natsu followed behind Gray, taking a seat across from said teen; dinner tonight was pizza, wings, and bread sticks. The rosette couldn't help but smile a little; the meal in front of him was something his dad and him always had on a Friday night. He knew his dad must have said something to Ur about the meal; his smile didn't go unseen by the raven, who was now more flustered than he had been upstairs. He watched, careful not to get caught staring at Natsu by anyone, as the rosette's mood resembled one he always had on at the bookstore: contentment.

"Mommy! How come Natsu is here?" Lyon's question gathered everyone's attention at the table; Ur chuckled, reaching to ruffle the small boy's, sitting to her right, silver hair: "You see... Your big brother and Natsu have an important project to work on so Mommy and Natsu's Daddy thought it would be easier for the two to get an A this way,"

"Hmm... make sense, I guess" Ultear sighed, clearing her used plate off the table and moved it into the kitchen.

"Hey mom, do you mind if we take what's left upstairs? I promise I'll bring the box back down," Gray spoke up upon watching his mother and Lyon clearing their dishes.

"Only if you take out the trash tonight and the two of you babysit Lyon tomorrow while your sister and I go out for a bit," Natsu glanced over at the raven curious as to why he wanted to bring the pizza upstairs just to come all the way down to clean up.

"Do you mind helping me watch the shrimp tomorrow?" Onyx eyes met cobalt ones curiously; the rosette was the first to look away muttering a: "It's fine," along the way.

Gray snatched up the pizza box and motioned for Natsu to follow him upstairs again; "So how come we're eating the rest upstairs?" Natsu wondered, hoping the raven wouldn't think he was weird or anything. Instead of making the rosette feel like an idiot, the other ended up making relief wash over Natsu with a small chuckle: "It's something friends do,"

"...and besides you seemed really happy when you saw my video games so I thought we'd play a few," Gray added, opening his bedroom door.

Cobalt eyes smiled over the fact that the other considered them 'friends'; the duo took their spot on two black bean bag chairs that lazily sat in front of the television set. It wasn't long before they were pushing button as the duo sat playing Mortal Combat: Deception; mumbling and agreeing that the first to get seven wins would win.

\- Six Hours Later -

"Yes! I won!" Natsu smiled, standing up to do a victory dance earning a grunt from the loser; being that the duo had stayed in those position for six hours straight the next should have been obvious to happen...

"!" Natsu's leg, having been forced to support the weight of the one who they were attached to, gave out causing the rosette to fall forward into Gray's arms; his knee landing right in between the raven's legs. Wide eyes met each other as the two stared at one another, trying to figure out what happened to lead to their current situation. Gravity taking its toll on Natsu's body made said body start moving lower - closer to the one underneath him; the raven's body seemed closer with each passing moment before they were inches apart and from anyone's point-of-view appeared to be about to kiss...

Suddenly Gray's bedroom door creaked open slowly, both teens glanced over in paralyzing fear of being caught in such a compromising position; Lyon, wearing lion footed pajamas, poked his head through the crack mumbling as he rubbed his eyes: "Graah, I had a nightmare,"

"I-Is t-that s-so?" The raven, sliding out away from the warmth that was Natsu's body to walk over to his little brother; leading him out back into the hallway.

Natsu got up as well following the duo to Lyon's room, feeling a little awkward being alone in Gray's room; he stood outside the dim room, illuminated only by the small nightlight beside the bed. He listened as Gray comforted the scared seven-year-old: "Don't worry - I'll be here until you fall asleep... Don't worry, remember what mom said 'the dream-catcher will take away all your bad dreams'," not catching what Lyon was saying.

He stood still, watching as Gray sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his brother's bad in a comforting manner; a tinge of jealousy (possibly?) sparked inside the rosette. Minutes passed before the raven moved; exiting the room, the raven was surprised to see Natsu standing so nearby: "He's asleep again... he should be okay for the rest of the night," Gray smiled as the two walked back.

"Let's just go to bed ourselves," The raven suggested once he shut the door behind Natsu; the rosette grabbed his sweatpants out of his bag while Gray grabbed his from the dresser drawer.

With their backs turned to one another, they changed into nothing but the pants they pulled out. Finishing first, Gray took a sneak peek behind him to see Natsu pulling his shirt off over his head; onyx eyes travelling around the smooth tanned back before darting away embarrassed. Coughing, the raven quickly climbed up onto the top bunk and not long after Natsu flicked the switch, engulfing the room in darkness, and climbed onto the bottom bunk. Hours had seemed to pass and with only the regret of not finishing before mixed with the sound of an obvious fast-asleep teen, Gray quietly crept down off the top bunk landing on the floor with a soft thud. Hovering over the sleeping rosette, Gray dipped down softly capturing the soft lips beneath him. He pulled away hoping he hadn't awaken the other; once he was sure he hadn't, the raven climbed back into bed.


	5. Babysitting

Chapter Five: Babysitting

"!" Cobalt eyes shot open upon contact; the young male wished with deadly thoughts that he could curse the raven, who obviously was still enjoying the heavenly comforts of sleep while he (on the other hand) was pressed further into the suffocating pillow by the bundle of energy bouncing on top of him.

"Lyon... Quit... bouncing..." A groggy Natsu growled, attempting to roll the child over so he could escape the giddy boy.

Sure, Gray had warned him that Lyon would be doing something like this early in the morning - a glare at the digital clock in the raven's room showed it was- "You gotta be kidding, its 7 am" Nastu groaned, glancing back at the giggling child that sat on the edge of the futon where he slept. The sleepy teen's eyes darted upwards to the second bed, only to see the disheveled raven's bed-hair as the teen stared back at him; suddenly a flash of last night's events flooded both of their minds causing them to jerk their heads in opposite directions until the innocent child between them spoke up: "I'm hungry"

"Alright, I'm getting up" Gray huffed, sliding off the top bunk following the hyped-up silver-haired child downstairs.

Sliding his shirt from yesterday over his head, Natsu followed the brothers into the kitchen, catching the end of Gray's remark: "...she knows me all too well,"

It wasn't until cobalt eyes noticed the trash from last night had been taken out; the raven handed his little brother a bowl of cereal. Once he left the room, the raven turned to his friend asking: "Do you see a cereal you like? Or should I just cook us up something?" glancing back at Natsu.

"I-I d-don't wanna make you-"

"You're not... I offered. So what shall I make us?" Gray interjected, opening the fridge oblivious to the wandering cobalt eyes behind him.

"Pancakes," Gray hadn't missed the word that stumbled out of the other's mouth; he smiled before closing the fridge and opening the cabinet before pulling out a box of pancake mix.

Within minutes, the duo had a small stack of pancakes between them on the table; they sat on opposite sides of the table. Aside from the occasional laugh from the living room, breakfast was rather quiet; a bit too quiet for both Natsu and Gray's taste.

"Lyon, bring me your bowl when you're done and then go get dressed," The raven ordered his brother once he and Natsu had finished off the small stack of pancakes.

A flash of silver flew past Natsu, nearly making the rosette stumble in his travels to help Gray with the dishes; Lyon handed his bowl to his brother before heading up stairs to get changed. The two teens worked quietly getting the dishes washed and standing out to air-dry; Lyon had just appeared when the teenage duo decided to get changed as well.

"Watch some more TV while we're upstairs," Gray suggested to the hyped-up child as he walked upstairs with Natsu behind him.

"Would it be okay if I used your shower?" Natsu quietly asked; it was part of his own morning routine to take a shower before getting changed.

"Go ahead. It's right behind that door." The raven responded, turning and pointing to the wooden door nearest him.

Once Gray was sure Natsu was in the bathroom, he sunk to his knees muttering: "What the hell is going on with me?"

He had admitted to himself that after first seeing Natsu working hard at the bookstore, the raven had grown a little fond of the other. After applying to the high school in the area (one he later found out to be Natsu's as well), he was torn apart to learn the other was very disliked by many of his peers; the rest weren't really sure what to think of him. After speaking to the rosette for the first time, Gray couldn't help but purposely draw more attention from the other. The sound of the shower turning off made the raven realize he hadn't changed yet - he had taken a shower last night before Natsu showed up. He quickly slipped out of his sweatpants and boxers before changing into a clean pair and clean jeans; he was looking through his closet for a shirt when he heard the bathroom door creak open. Turning his head he was overwhelmed by the wet messy rosy locks that stuck to the other's tanned features; onyx eyes drifted down to see washboard abs, which for someone who didn't have any reason to look good made little sense to him, that were quickly covered with a black t-shirt. Gray quickly pulled a navy blue shirt over his head as if to wash away the color that had suddenly flooded to his face. Coughing, Gray suggested they go back downstairs and watch TV with Lyon.

"Y-Yeah," A confused Natsu followed behind the still flustered raven-haired teen as he entered the living room and sat down on the far-east end; the other sat down on the only free spot, which happened to be beside Gray.

Lyon had stretched out on the remaining cushion, too amused with the bright animation to notice the awkward silence between his brother and friend.

Four Hours Later

"Ahh! I can't take another moment of this," Gray growled, pointing an accusing finger at the animation on the TV before swinging around to look back at the wide-eyed duo sitting on the couch.

"Let's go out for lunch, you two!" Lyon's eyes lit up as he jumped off the couch cheering:"Yeah! Let's go!"

Without warning, Natsu felt his body jolt forward sending him into the raven's firm chest; pushing away the rosette wondered if maybe feelings like this were normal for friends. Lyon already had his shoes on by the time the teens reached the door; they slipped on their own shoes before the raven told his brother that they would be going to the usual place. The duo followed the silver-haired bundle of energy out the door (Gray locking it behind them) towards the nearest fast food place; their trip didn't last long and soon they found themselves in a welcoming establishment. Cobalt eyes wandered around the place in curiosity as the rest of him followed closely behind Gray to the counter.

"Hey Gray! What are you doing here?" Natsu cowered behind Gray, without a second thought, as if it were second nature.

"Lucy! I didn't know you worked here," Now hearing the girl's name, Natsu knew that he never had a problem with the girl exactly.

"I want nuggets, Gray! Natsu, what are you gonna order?" The child tugged on the bottom of the rosette's shirt whilst pointing at the menu above Lucy's head.

Gray stepped aside to give his friend a better view of the menu; "erm... I guess I'll take Chicken sandwich with a Dr Pepper,"

"Would you like the meal?" Lucy's voice seemed to soften as if to coax more words out the teen.

"...sure..."

"And what do you want Gray?" Lucy smiled, before turning her attention to the remaining teen left to order.

"I'll take the same,"

Lyon grabbed a hold of Natsu's hand and led him over to an empty booth; "I'll bring your food over since I'm going on break soon," Lucy offered to a distracted raven, who only nodded and took a seat beside Natsu.

"Alright, here's your food," Lucy smiled before taking a seat beside an ecstatic Lyon, who quickly went to work on his lunch.

"Never expected to see you here, Natsu" Lucy smiled at the suddenly uneasy teen, who only nodded his head in response: "I never thought the two of you would become friends," She added softer.

"Don't tell me you also believe all the cr-"

"I don't," sighing, "Nor does Loki, Levi, Erza, Jellal, and Gajeel," glancing over to Natsu, "you know I've always been wanting to talk and get to know you" She added gently before her voice dropped: "...especially since Lis-"

Before she could finish a 'stop!' erupted from the rosette, who now seemed to be struggling with himself; "G-G-Gray, mind letting me up?"

The raven wasn't about to say 'no' so slid out and felt the rush of air that blew past him as Natsu quickly ran off; Gray just stood there watching the retreating back of the rosette. Something in his chest yanked downward to his stomach, suddenly feeling the urge to chase after him but the sound of Lucy's voice stopped his thoughts: "Could you him I'm sorry?" before rushing back to work behind the counter.

Gray wasn't sure what to make out of all of this; he had only once seen his friend make that sort of expression: "What the hell is no one telling me?" He grounded out, clenching his fists tightly.

"Gray! We should bring Natsu his lunch!" Onyx eyes widened as he glanced over at his brother's face that was obviously expressing concern for the rosette's sudden disappearance.

"Yeah, we should... C'mon" Gray gathered Natsu's meal in one of the bags before the brotherly duo headed in the direction their companion; they found him sitting on the curb outside the fast food place.

"Let's go home," The raven gently smacked the bag of food against the tanned cheek of the teen sitting down; said teen looked up looking relieved almost immediately upon seeing the other's face.

Natsu grinned and laughed once he felt Lyon pull him forward; a soft buzz in Gray's pocket diverted the raven's attention from the grinning teen before him.

/Amusement park - Saturday - Loki just won 8 tickets - Invite Natsu/ - Lucy


	6. Amusement Park Mayhem

Chapter Six: Amusement Park Mayhem

Natsu groaned, lifting his hand in a lazy attempt to shield his eyes from the bright light that was stabbing through the dark blue curtains. He rolled over onto his stomach, wondering in the back of his mind why it was so bright out and why he hadn't heard Gray's alarm go off.

"C'mon you two! Your friends are here!" Natsu heard Ur call up to them, which meant that he wasn't the only one still sleeping.

The rosette climbed out of the futon lazily, padding into the adjacent bathroom before pushing the door enough to appear shut from the outside.

"Natsu, just change into clothes! You should've taken it earlier!" He froze from the dark aura that was being directed at his bare back.

With a heavy sigh, the rosette walked back into the bedroom, changing into the first articles of clothes he could get his hands on; he sighed as he fixed his bed-hair before taking in his current appearance.

"C'mon NATSU!" Natsu dashed out of the room following behind Gray, who had been the one to bark at him so early in the morning.

Gray knew, from Jellal and Loki, that Lucy and Erza were scary girls; the duo followed the girls out the door to see a red SUV, Jellal's car, parked right in front of Gray's house. Natsu climbed in after Gray, sitting a little closer than he normally would; Gray had invited him to come along with his friends to the opening of a new amusement park that had just been built near Magnolia. As Natsu sat staring out the window, he couldn't stop thinking back to the last time he went to an amusement park-

"-su? Oi! Natsu!" Natsu jolted when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder firmly.

"Yeah?" Natsu looked over to the concerned raven beside him; in the back of his mind he had to wonder if his expression was really that serious to make his friend's expression appear so worried.

"You okay, you seem kind of out of it…" He whispered, leaning over to prevent anyone from overhearing us.

The rosette nodded his head whispering back, "I'm fine…" but mentally he was debating whether that was really the truth or not.

The amusement park slowly came into sight a short while after their short conversation ended; Jellal pulled into an empty parking spot, which was closer to the entrance than they all thought possible considering all the other cars also parked.

"Alright… in case we get split up, let's meet up here about 5?" Erza suggested immediately acquiring leadership in the group.

Everyone slowly nodded their heads as they walked to the entrance, paying for their ticket in. Natsu watched as Loki and Lucy immediately linked arms and went off somewhere followed by Jellal suggesting one of the rollar coasters to Erza. Natsu felt his body slowly back away from them, suddenly noticing he was alone. He glanced around to find sight of his friend but to no avail until: "Where did everyone go?" Gray appeared behind him, drinking a cup that had obviously been bought from one of the venders.

The rosette simply shrugged his shoulders causing the raven to sigh irritated and mutter: "Damn couples" before the duo headed together towards a roller coaster that Natsu had heard his dad talking about it; the ride was suppose to be the largest in the country. They could see people leaving, well more like running off the ride to go vomit in the nearest trashcan. Natsu slowly backed off, heading for the water rides since it was normally cooler around there. He sat on the edge of the pool; the rosette slid his sandals off and dipped his feet in, in hopes to calm his stomach down. Natsu always tended to get nervous when waiting in line to get on a roller coaster; he stared down at the water below him unaware that Gray had walked up behind him.

"You know most people either get in the water," Gray's voice surprised the rosette slightly; said teen looked up, surprise still written on his face, at the smiling raven.

"Shall we have some fun?" He laughed, offering a hand out to lift the other up.

Natsu grabbed it and quickly found himself back on his feet and following closely behind his friend; they headed to one of the water rides and stood in line: "We don't have anything to change into..." Natsu pointed out the obvious to his friend as they stood.

"Who cares? By the time five o'clock rolls around: we'll be dry"  
"And if we aren't?"

"Well," scratching the back of his head, "then looks like we're either walking home or riding on the roof," seeing cobalt eyes widen in pure fear made the raven burst out laughing, "I'm kidding," He added after he finally calmed down.

Needless to say, once they started going on ride after ride: Natsu relaxed and began to enjoy the rides, even with Gray by his side. After what felt like they had gone on almost every ride, the rosette stretched his arms over his head before he quickly clothes-lined Gray and dragged him into a steel caged contraption followed by a: "are you two together?" from the man working the ride asked.

Natsu ducked down, waiting for the door to click shut; it wasn't until the ride began moving that the rosette joined his friend on the hard plastic seat: "So, do you mind telling me why you clothes-lined me and dragged me onto the Ferris Wheel?" He heard Gray ask with mild curiosity.

"It's the last ride in the park" It was very obvious that that was a lie.

Onyx eyes glanced over the edge before they landed on the most logical explanation: two silver-haired adults walking by.

"So mind explaining why the silver-haired duo makes you act like this," Gray sighed, staring hard at the teen sitting across from him.

Natsu's face lowered for a moment causing the raven to become even more curious about the pink-haired teen across from him and making him think back to the incident with Lucy.

"I don't want to talk about it," Natsu shot him down.

"We're friends," sighing before his gaze shifted out to the scenery with a look of kicked puppy, "...or so I thought," The raven knew that it was a cheap shot but he really thought he deserved to know, even if it was only a little.

Silence fell and Gray was about to move past the issue when he heard: "I wasn't always alone, you know... I had a girlfriend."

Onyx eyes widened as slightly dark emotions began slowly filling him up before he muttered out: "S-So w-what happened?"

"She died…" Natsu softly responded.

The raven watched as his friend slowly lifted his head only to look off to the side past the steel bars of the Ferris wheel. A feeling of dread and regret fell over him; Gray didn't want to pry but he couldn't stop himself. He leaned forward slightly as they sat in silence for a bit but not for long when suddenly he heard Natsu gasp: "Man, if Lisanna could see this… she'd—"

"Lisanna?"

"She was my girlfriend…"

"What… what happened to her?"

"She died last year in a car accident…"

"Were you…um… you know in the car?"

"Y-yeah,"

"Sorry…"

The silence fell again; their ride was ending when the silence was interrupted: "Uh oh..."

Onyx and cobalt eyes exchanged curious and worried looks before the raven answered the ringing cellular device: "U-uh... Hell- URK!"

Gray's face contorted into a painful one as the angry red-haired girl gave him a painful earful about not being at the agreed spot before ending the call; the raven rubbed his abused ear before muttering something about them meeting up with everyone. Natsu followed behind him; upon seeing the others he closed the distance between him and his friend in fear.

"Gray! I thought I told you 5 o'clock!" Erza angrily glared at Gray, who backed away slightly but was stopped when he almost ran into the fearful rosette.

"Erza," sighing loudly enough to direct the angry glare elsewhere, "you never told him a time," Jellal added with an unreadable poker face.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I DID OR DIDN'T SAY!" Erza yelled at him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt.

The duo stood there; Erza glaring and Jellal simply staring back at her. It felt like eternity before the duo separated; the red-haired turned to the fearful duo and apologized. Lucy broke the awkward silence that followed: "I know how about we go somewhere before we all head home?"

Gray and Natsu exchanged tired expression before the raven declined the offer; "Nah, we're both tired so just drop us off at my place"

Lucy pouted: "Alright but," turning her brown eyes onto the rosette, "promise me you'll hang out with us again. I know we didn't hang out but I speak for everyone when I say: we're all happy you came along~!"

Cobalt eyes caught the nodding of three other heads in unison before he glanced over at the raven, who simple smiled at him; "I-If that's okay," Natsu replied, softly.

"Of course!" Loki grinned as the others also smiled/grinned back at the cautious teen.

After getting what she wanted, Lucy agreed that maybe Gray was right and everyone should just go home for the rest of the night; the ride back to Gray's home was pretty quiet and comfortable for Natsu.

"See ya at school!" Lucy waved as the car drove away from the duo standing outside the door; once the car was out of sight, Gray's shoulders sagged as he asked: "So did you have fun?"

"Y-Yeah, t-thanks" Natsu scratched at his lower area of his cheek a little embarrassed about dragging his friend onto the Ferris Wheel of all things.


	7. Side Story: Natsu's Past

Natsu stood by the entrance of the high school, constantly checking his watch as if it would make his girlfriend move any faster; she had just gotten her license and was excited to be able to drive to their favorite spot in the city. What felt like hours later, after school had ended, he finally heard: "Ah~ Natsu! Sorry for making you wait,"

"Lisanna... you said you only needed to drop something off - how does tha-" A slim pale finger placed in front of him stopped him; Lisanna pouted as she explained: "I did just have to drop something off but then I ran into Cana and we started chatting... and," giggling softly, "yeah, you know how we can get," She added as a poor excuse.

"Are we going or not?" The rosette hadn't meant for the question to sound rude but his feet were killing him from all the waiting he did; Lisanna merely smiled and nodded her head, leading her boyfriend around the corner to the student parking lot then up to a small yellow smart car.

"Is that car even safe, Lisanna?" A rosy eyebrow raised in curiosity as he pointed to the small so-called car.

"Of course~!"

He opened the passenger side door and sat down, admitting to himself that the inside seemed more spacious than he thought it would be; he shut the door just as Lisanna started the car up. He watched as the scenery changed and before he knew it: she was parking the car as Natsu let out a huge sigh of relief for not getting into an accident on the way.

"See~ nothing to fear" Lisanna smiled in triumph, forming a 'V' with her fingers in glee.

Natsu shrugged it off; he knew where she had taken him: the sea side area of Sycca, a beach town in Edolas and also the place where Lisanna had confessed to him. He grinned at the familiar scenery and the memories of his father taking him here for a day in the sun. Lisanna spoke, breaking through the other's daze within his memories: "Brings you back, huh? I told myself that this would be the first place I went with my car and only with you,"

"Lisan-"

"You don't have to say anymore, Natsu... and don't worry I'm fine," laughing nervously, "I'd be a horrible person to be mad at you for something like this" She added with a soft smile.

"Lisanna, what are you talking about?"

Leaning her head against the tanned forehead of the other, she whispered: "You may not understand it yourself but you will someday," with no air of sadness.

"Why can't y-"

"Now~ let's go back before you miss work," The cheerful silver-haired girl smiled as she headed back to the car with Natsu in suit.

Natsu shut his eyes in hopes the ride in his girlfriend's so-called car would be over soon enough; the scenery blurred together and finally black. Within what felt like minutes to the rosette, suddenly his breathing was becoming ragged and there was a noise that wouldn't quiet down. Thinking it was the radio, Natsu groaned: "Lisanna turn it down,"

No response. The noise only got louder and clearer with each passing moment: "...tsu? Na... Nat... su..."

He opened his eyes slowly, immediately wondering why he couldn't turn his head to look over at his girlfriend; finally shifting, pain shot up his whole body. Cobalt eyes widened at the sight before him: his girlfriend sat with blood trailing down her face from all over; pressed against the vinyl seat cushion; and finally the bright lights of the emergency service vehicles.

"Lisanna? W-what ha-happened?" Natsu's voice although wanting to come out worried came out instead as a cough; his eyes darted over seeing the reason why: he too was pressed but not nearly as much as his girlfriend appeared to be.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Nat-tsu"

"N-no! D-Don't a-apologize! Don't," sobbing, "d-d-don't y-you d-d-dare," He thought back to how his life was before Lisanna 'pushed' herself into her life; he had been alone until the day she started talking to him.

It wasn't long after Lisanna began talking to Natsu, did the silent rosette come out of his shell; he made friends with all of her friends: Cana, Jet, Droy, Laxus, and Levi. Soon, the duo found themselves dating; although things between them were always different than other couples. They never kissed. Never did anything couple-like other than hold hands and go out to movies. And now that they were staring at one another waiting as the life was pulled away slowly from her: Lisanna's eyes spoke volumes to him, words that Natsu couldn't decipher.

"Lisanna!" Natsu cried out as he watched her brilliant blue eyes close; even after crying out her name endlessly: Lisanna's eyes never opened but he didn't stop.

He kept crying out her name, in hopes that the one person who made him comfortable around other people, even missing the last words to leave her mouth before she stopped breathing all together: "I know you'll find the guy to make you fall in love forever,"


	8. Last Minute Panic

Chapter Seven: Last Minute Panic

Natsu woke up, reliving all the memories that had taken place at the amusement park; needless to say he hadn't actually been to one since he was with Lisanna. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have told Gray as much as he did, considering he wasn't all that smart outside of books. The rosette knew that if his silver-haired friend would see him now: she'd be very upset with him. Maybe it was telling Gray about her that let memories of the girl unfold in his mind without him freaking out...

"I can imagine her scolding me like she always did," Natsu mused as he sat up with a small chuckle before his cobalt eyes scanned around the room he had been staying in for almost two week.

"Two weeks, huh?" He had never spent this much time with anyone other than his dad, let alone a friend.

Wait... t-two weeks? He bolted from the bed, riffling through the scattered papers from school until he came upon the one he was looking for: their script they're suppose to perform.

"T-Tomorrow...?" Panic sunk in; the rosette had never failed an assignment before!

Natsu darted back over to the bed where the sleepy raven slept peacefully, unaware of the rude awakening he was about to get.

"Lyon... its too early," blinking a few times, "what is it, Natsu?" Gray rubbed his eyes as he sat up before seeing the panic in the other's eyes.

"Seriously, what's wrong Natsu? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." Natsu lifted the paper up and pointed to the due date on it.

"Alright, you have something due tomorrow..." The raven yawned, oblivious to the rest of the paper's contents.

"No, we do... Gray... it's our script project," Natsu corrected him; his statement made Gray snatch the paper away from him before reading it himself.

"Oh shit... we're in trouble now, aren't we?" He groaned, covering his eyes with his hand in defeat.

"Maybe not," a glare from the onyx-eyed male didn't falter the other from continuing, "I read in a book where these characters had to come up with something last minute or they'd fail," a raven eyebrow quirked upwards in curiosity, "well, the assignment does say we need to paraphrase the script so we could just improvise our lines as long as they follow the emotions in Romeo and Juli-"

"You must read some weird books," Gray interrupted him with a smirk making the other pout without thinking.

"They're not weird..." Cobalt eyes narrowed as a little anger flared inside him.

They stared at one another for a while until Gray sighed: "So you're saying we should just bullshit our way through our project," sliding off the top bunk, which made his lounge pants ride up a little of his pale waist.

"No, we can do this naturally..." Natsu ignored the thud in his chest as he explained to the now-awake raven-haired male.

"Getting a good grade means a lot to you, I guess?" Natsu merely nodded his head in defeat; it was true getting good grades meant he could spend more time at the bookstore.

His father's bookstore, it sucked that his dad went out of town but although he missed being surrounded by all those books being here had something the bookstore didn't: a friend, something he hadn't had since Lisanna's death. A grave half-smile spread across his tanned face as he looked back down at the piece of paper in Gray's hand; it wasn't until then that he noticed something.

"Huh?" darting his eyes downwards until he figured out what his friend was starting at, "I had surgery before I came here..." Gray could feel cobalt orbs slowly move up onto his face before they were staring at one another.

"Surgery for what?"

"I got into a car accident and was put on a bunch of machines for about 6 months. I was irritated with everything... I didn't really have much of a life, you know. I wasn't popular or even known by anyone," a questioning rosette eyebrow lifted in disbelief, "I know. Compared to how I am now, it seems a little hard to believe. One day, when I had finally swore accepted dying, the doctor came in and said that they found a new liver for me." He explained with a guilty look in his onyx eyes.

"So does that mean when you all moved here, you took this as your chance to re-live your life?" Somehow while Gray was talking, the two ended up sitting on the bottom bunk like they had when Natsu first came here.

"You could say that... but of course, the first place I went was your dad's bookstore... I'm glad I found that place... it was going to be my place to run to in case 're-living' my life was too much," Natsu suddenly remembered what his dad had said to him the first time he met the raven-haired teen.

/he comes in here everyday/

"So why did you come everyday? If it was only gonna be a place to run to?" Natsu pushed an issue he had been wondering since the first time they met: if Gray did come everyday back then, why hadn't Natsu ever seen him?

"We should get started on our project," The sudden upbringing of their project made the issue be pushed aside once again in Natsu's mind.

The two picked up their forgotten their scripts and started practicing, taking a break when Ur called them for breakfast and lunch; by the middle of the evening, their scripts were proving less and less needed as the two acted out a scene with similar intensity as their assigned Romeo and Juliet scene. And once again, they were too involved with the script to realize where their bodies had moved to-

"but its late and I really should go..." Gray hummed in a low voice that made the other wonder if he could hear the drumming in his chest.

"Stupid," chuckling with a dazed expression on his face, "You really can be quite stupid," breathing slowly, "but then again... I'm pretty stupid for falling for someone like you." Natsu added with an intensity that made Gray wonder how the other couldn't hear the loud drumming from his chest.

"S-so... what are... we gonna do... about the... kiss...?" The drawn-out question left both of them unaware of how close they had really gotten.

Neither of them knew who actually asked the question that was on both of their minds; their scene included a kiss and according to Carla-sensei's instructions they had to include one in their project. They stood there staring at one another, curious of which of them would speak first. Their breaths mingled in between them; one thought passed through their minds '...one kiss couldn't hurt...' albeit neither were really thinking at this point. Gray leaned down until he was merely moments from touches Natsu's lips and just as he had finally got the nerve to take the plunge, a voice called out: "Gray! Mommy says dinners ready - Huh? Whaddya doing on the floor?"

The sudden sound of Lyon's voice trailing up the hallways into Gray's room sent both boys falling backwards, away from one another. The duo forced themselves up on their weak legs before following the little bundle of hype down the stairs and into the dining room. Ultear was the first to say something: "Hey Mom, looks who's back from their cave..."

"Ultear, sweetie... That's not nice to say... Your brother and Natsu are working very hard on their project together," Ur scolded her daughter lightly before smiling over at both the boys, who found it was amazing they were both still standing considering their previous actions.

Both teens took a seat next to one another as Ur placed the food on the table for them: spaghetti. Natsu's mouth watered at the amazing smell that was coming off the sauce; he had to admit it: Ur really had some skill in the kitchen. Natsu wasn't an especially picky eater but when he was surrounded by people who he knew: he wasn't afraid to voice his displeasure. And the opposite around people he didn't know.

"Do you like it, Natsu?" The rosette was at a bit of a crossroads; he felt comfortable around Gray and Lyon, who basically forced the comfort onto Natsu but he didn't really know Ultear and even though Ur was always giving him such a gentle smile he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about her.

"Mom, don't force an answer from him," turning to Natsu, "You don't have to be shy about answering her... Since you're staying here, she wants to make your favorite food too." He added with wide smile, erasing the previous awkward between them.

As if purely fueled by Gray's smile, Natsu spoke: "Ur-san, I didn't think I'd meet anyone who can make spaghetti sauce smell this good! What sort of herbs did you put into it? This smell better than what I make!" making onyx eyes widen in surprise at how the rosette sounded so confident all of a sudden.

Ur merely smiled as she answered the suddenly sparkling teen: "Let's see... a little garlic, parsley, oregano, chopped up basil, and a little all-season to give it a little kick"

Natsu nodded his head as if mentally recording Ur's answer for later use; dinner ended up being more relaxed than any other dinner the rosette teen had had with Gray's family.


	9. The Performance

Chapter Eight: The Performance

To say that Gray and Natsu couldn't wait until today was over would be the understatement of the century! After the enjoyable dinner that made them forget about their 'almost' kiss, they went upstairs only to be flooded with the remembrance of their 'almost' kiss! The time for all of them to perform their scripts in the auditorium was drawing near, Carla and Happy-sensei had drawn up a list of what order they would be going in: Natsu and Gray were a few spots down from the current performers. Although both teachers graded according to how much effort seemed to be put into each scene, it wasn't the grade they would receive that was making them wish the day would just end...

"Gajeel and Levi, you're up!" Happy announced and afterwards heard a: 'Levi stepped out for a bit...'

"Okay then... umm, Natsu and Gray!" Their names made their legs shake as they stood up and went onstage.

"Whenever you're ready," Happy-sensei practically purred once the two boys were onstage; Gray took a deep breath before turning to face his partner, gingerly placing a hand on his shoulder he seemed to pass on his calm feelings onto the other.

They kept their spots onstage before loosening up the rest of their bodies as Gray began: "I should go... before anyone sees us together," curling his hand that he had laid on Natsu's shoulder into a fist before turning and walking offstage.

"Wait-why," his voice stopped the raven in his tracks, "Who cares what everyone else says," Gray turned slightly to face the rosette once again, "I don't," sniffling in an attempt to hold back tears, "I've spent years being mistreated by everyone around me and then you show up and," breaking into a sob, "everything falls into place! Without you around, everyday will be hell on earth for me." Natsu concluded as he fell to his knees and began to actually cry when he thought of his raven friend really leaving him.

A little surprised at how real Natsu's fake crying sounded, Gray went along with it as he spoke with pained eyes: "Do you think that just because everyone disapproves of us being together: I'll just let you go?" without even a second though he began thinking about all the awful things people had said to him about the rosette.

He walked back over and knelt down in front of him: "Like hell I will." He smirked, although was completely surprised when he saw real tears streaming down those tanned cheeks, and continued on: "After being by your side these past weeks, I couldn't leave you if I tried..." His smirk transformed into a genuine smile.

"Do you... Do you think anyone will ever accept us?" Natsu's tears fell lessened at the sight of such a smile appearing in front of him.

Completely lost in their own world the raven replied back softly, "After some time, maybe," sighing as he ruffled his raven locks with a hand before looking into the cobalt orbs before him, "And then we won't have to hide it," smiling again, "and when that time comes I'll show you off to the world."

Within their cram practice last night, Natsu never thought that that line would end up making his heart speed up; "I'm glad we met then," a nervous smile spreading across his features, "if we hadn't I don't think I would have been able to smile like this," tears had begun to form again in the corners of his eyes.

"Trust me, this is only the beginning Natsu," pausing as stared for a moment his heart speeding up at the sight before him, "But its late and I really should go..." He leaned in as they had agreed before falling asleep last night.

As he closed the distance between their mouths so many confusing thoughts passed through Gray's head making him pause in his action; feeling the other stop, one look at the raven said that Natsu had to take matters into his own hand or risk getting a bad grade so he spoke softly: "Stupid," before chuckling enough to push confidence back into his partner's features, "You really can be quite stupid."

Without waiting for a sign, Gray diminished the space to kiss Natsu quickly enough to avoid getting in trouble but long enough for his chest to nearly split open before pulling away and running off the stage, leaving his friend to say his last line. Touching his lips in surprise, Natsu smiled as he just looked over with volumes of emotions as he said his last line: "But then again, I'm pretty stupid for falling for someone like you."

The sound of clapping broke Natsu's gaze on the now-flustered Gray, who took his opportunity to disappear; the rosette stood up expecting his friend to be walking over but felt a pain in his chest when there was no trace of him. Carla-sensei spoke first: "I gotta hand it to you boys... picking that Romeo and Juliet scene from the hat must have been hard but you both did very well otherwise," with a smile as Natsu walked down the step leading off the stage.

As he took his seat, he noticed that Gray wasn't there; meanwhile as Natsu sat watching the other performances, Gray was in the men's bathroom splashing water in his face. Even after splashing so much cold water in his face, the red dusting still refused to disappear! He couldn't get the image of those emotion-filled cobalt eyes out of his mind; he knew that Natsu was special to him.

Knew that the first day he saw him re-stocking shelves at his dad's bookstore.

Knew that the first time they spoke.

The first time he lied for him.

The only question he still had unanswered was: why?

Why was someone he didn't even know already so important to him?

Was it out of pity that he befriended Natsu when no one else did?

No, he wasn't the type to do that someone. EVER.

Why is that kiss messing with his head?

He looked back up at the mirror in front of him, seeing the red dusting only darker than before made the raven come up with two possible conclusions.

Either A) he was just a little messed up from kissing his friend or

B) a choice he didn't want to accept but couldn't rule out-

"Huh? O-oh there you are... you left so quickly I thought maybe you weren't feeling well," He didn't even need to move his eyes to know that the reason for his blush was right there.

-he had somehow fallen in love with Natsu.

"Just a little dizzy but I'm fine now... so did the teachers say anything?" Gray coughed out, splashing his face with cold water again.

"Just that considering our scene... we did amazingly well... now I guess we wait until they hand us a grade," Natsu replied, scratching the back of his head.

While sitting in the seat, he too was thinking about how things after their performance kiss went: he had never felt so warm and happy in his life. He had felt something similar when he was around Lisanna but it wasn't as overwhelming as it was with Gray. He had only read books about feeling like this; he wasn't sure if it was possible to have fallen for his friend. Slipping out, he wanted to find his friend to ask him in hopes to get an answer; he figured he'd start with the bathroom since Gray did look a little feverish on stage. Sure enough he found his friend appearing in deep thought; Natsu broke the trance Gray was in hoping to ask his question very soon.

"I'm sure we did well," The raven dried his face with a paper towel before disposing of it in the trashcan.

"C-Can I ask y-you s-something, Gray?" All of a sudden the rosette was feeling a knot develop in his stomach, which made him a little queasy.

"Sure, I suppose... Though I don't know if I'll be must help..." Scratching his chin, the raven looked away.

"Have you ever fallen for someone?"

And then there was silence, pure silence as the two teens stood there; one awaiting an answer the other not sure how to respond. Before he could respond with words, someone walked in making their discussion be pushed to the back of their minds; neither of them spoke as Gajeel walked in between them and the moment he moved out of their line of vision the two walked out.

"We can talk at lunch about this..." Gray scratched his chin, trying to lift the heavy silence that had fallen between them before he walked back into the auditorium with his friend following closely behind him.

They had missed quite a lot of their classmates' performances, which depending on what was performed might have been a good thing considering the raging mob of girls that surrounded Gray after everyone was done.

"Gray-sama... The performance meant nothing to me! I only love you!" and "Gray-sama! I'm sorry! Sensei made me do it with that stupid (-insert classmate's name-)" all came out together from the raging mob of girls.

Natsu, of course, found himself pushed away by quite a few glaring fan-girls who immediately turned their attention back to the raven. Lunch seemed so far away at this point...


	10. His Questions

Chapter Ten: His Questions

After the run-in with the fan-girls, Gray managed to escape into the boys' locker room that meant the rabid girls couldn't reach him until they all gave up. Lunch was approaching and maybe it was from all the running but the raven was beginning to feel a little dizzy all of a sudden. Thinking if he sat down he'd feel better, the raven slid down the wooden door only to feel his body fall to the side, the moment he was sitting on the floor, as darkness took over his vision.

-Lunch Time-

Natsu waited on the rooftop for his friend to show up; lunch was nearly over and there was no sign of his friend! Something in his stomach refused to settle as some thing didn't seem right. He tossed his lunch, not having much of an appetite before heading off to class; by the end of the day: he still hadn't seen Gray. The teen didn't even show up to the class they shared! Not really understanding why, he ran out of his last period classroom once the bell rung but stopped when he heard: "Natsu! Wait!"

He turned around to see Lucy running towards him; she seemed upset and although the rosette had no idea how to actually comfort her before he could try out ones he read in books she spoke: "Gray's... in the hospital... he fainted in the locker room... Magnolia General," when he didn't move she added, "well go! You two are friends, after all!" in a more fiery tone that made Natsu run off.

As much as he didn't like hospitals, he let his feet take him in the direction of Magnolia General; he gave the raven's name only to hear his name being called once again, he glanced over his shoulder to see Ur walking through the door. He walked over asking if Gray was okay; she nodded only to point to an area behind him. Natsu looked behind him to see Gray walking through the doors of the emergency room with discharge papers.

"Natsu?"

"What happened?" Gray staggered forward a little and was surprised when he felt warmth in front of him suddenly; Natsu had rushed over to make sure he didn't fall forward.

"I fainted... that's all," The raven muttered as he put his weight on his own feet before walking along side with the other to the door, where Ur waited with her car parked right outside.

"but fainting doesn't require you to go to the hospital..." His voice suddenly was silenced when he earned a glare from his counterpart; onyx eyes quickly turned away in regret to what they had just done as they climbed into Ur's car.

It was just as they were pulling into the driveway of Gray's house that Natsu heard a soft 'sorry Natsu' from beside him; a small smile of relief found its way on his tanned features: he didn't want to lose his first friend. He was about to climb out of the car when he felt something tug on his wrist weakly; cobalt eyes followed his arm down to his wrist then to the pale hand wrapped around it and finally to the body it was connected to. Ur had gone inside when Gray spoke: "Remember I told I had surgery yesterday," the rosette nodded, "well... I really did faint. The doctor says it might have been because of all the running I did trying to get away from those rabid," chuckling, "fan-girls... They had to do a biopsy to make sure my body was still accepting my liver," He finished, looking over with a guilty look in his eye.

"I see," Natsu muttered, looking down unsure whether he should make a suggestion.

"I didn't mean to hide it from you... I didn't want you to worry about me,"

"But I was worried regardless!" His outburst made the two teens freeze as the words sank in; Gray immediately thought back to partial revelation in the bathroom followed closely by Natsu's question.

/Have you ever fallen for someone?/

"I have," confused cobalt eyes looked over at him before he continued, "You asked me if I had fallen for someone earlier," a look of realization appeared on the other's face, "well, I have... recently too" Gray's chuckle seemed empty as if forced to come out.

"S-so... h-how did you learn that you fell?" The knot from earlier made its re-appearance in Natsu's stomach making him queasy once again.

"It just," pausing for a moment, "pieced together one day," He added with a small content yet painful smile on his face; the raven knew that his feelings weren't likely to ever be returned the way he wanted them to but he wasn't going to just runaway from them either.

"...pieced together, huh" The rosette leaned forward; knowing in two days he would be back at his house with his dad, which meant he wouldn't see Gray as much as he had these past two weeks, he didn't have much time to understand the emotions he was feeling after their performance.

"Why do you ask?" Out of fear of learning the question to a later question the raven wanted to add on, 'You dated someone before wouldn't you know?', he bit his tongue to keep the question silent.

"I read a lot of books but they can never teach you what it really feels like... so I was just curious," The rosy-haired male muttered, looking off to the side in embarrassment of wondering whether he had fallen or not for his only friend.

Before Gray could push the issue any further they were called in by Ur, which ended their conversation; tonight would be their last night under the same roof. In those remaining hours, the issue continued to fester until the clock's glow shifted to show '12:00' and an irritated raven rolled over in bed sighing from the frustration of not being able to fall to sleep. He quietly climbed down off the top bunk; as if possessed by something Gray carefully maneuvered his body so that his torso hovered over the sleeping rosette. The pink plump lips moved slightly as Natsu slept, oblivious to his friend's actions; the raven wasn't entirely sure why he was doing this: it just felt right. He dipped himself lower until he was inches away; Natsu shifted in his sleep letting a soft moan slip past his lips. The raven froze; his onyx eyes staring wide-eyed, watching as tanned eyelids open to half-mast leaving him to stare at sleepy cobalt eyes. Right as Gray, deciding it would be best to move and hope the other didn't remember anything, began moving away: a tug on his wrist stopped him before he glanced down to see the person obviously attached.

"Natsu...?"

The raven waited but couldn't stop a smile from appearing on his face when he heard light snores coming from the other; the rosette still hadn't let go of his wrist so, glad that today had been Friday, he gently pushed his friend further onto the bunk before climbing in himself. Watching the sleeping teen made it even clearer to him that he really might have fallen for Natsu but, as he pushed a strand of rosy-hair from the face, he didn't want to rush things. His shoulders sagged once he remembered what he had just tried to do; he merely smiled guiltily before the sounds of the other's soft snores made his onyx eyes slowly close as sleep finally took over.


	11. Discover and Uncover

Chapter Ten: Discover and Uncover

Natsu, as if on auto-pilot, did his job at his dad's bookstore; he couldn't explain it and a part of him hoped that maybe being back in his haven would help but so far: nothing. He always found himself walking over towards the relationship self-help books they had in-stock but every time he got too close: a customer would ask him for help. This process kept going until closing time; the same process kept him from noticing a familiar raven mob of hair, that he had woken up to, peering through the open slots in the bookshelves in the middle of the store. Finally, closing time arrived and the last customer was leaving; Natsu picked up the book he had been eyeing all day: Recognizing the Signs of True Love- For Dummies. He ignored the curious looks he was getting from his dad as he sat down and leafed through the contents of the paperback book.

"...willing to go somewhere you hate..." Yesterday's hospital visit popped in his head; Natsu's grip on the book tightened: he hadn't stepped foot into a hospital since Lisanna and him had been brought there after their accident!

Thinking back on it, he was surprise at himself for running straight there without hesitating; he lowered the book down and leaned back as he wondered if this little bit meant that he might be falling in love with Gray, the guy who forcibly pushed himself into his life. He brought his knee up onto the chair only to rest his forehead on top wondering if feeling this way towards a friend was natural or if a guy falling for another guy was even natural?

"Ugggh..." He groaned, all these thoughts were starting to give him a headache; a grip on his shoulder made him jump and cause the book to fall from his hands, landing onto the floor. Igneel stepped forward and picked up the fallen book, "Recognizing the Signs of True Love - For Dummies," handing the book back to his son, "Did something happen while I was away?" He asked crouching down in front of his only child with a soft smile on his tanned face.

"N-not r-really," Although it was clearly obvious that the rosette had just lied; Igneel's smile didn't falter in fact it grew slightly before the older man rose to his feet again and ruffled his son's hair.

"Well if that's the case: I hope you won't mind us having them all over for dinner," Natsu swung around in his seat watching his father's retreating back, "in thanks for taking care of you," He added before he disappeared into the backroom.

It wasn't that he didn't want dinner with Gray's family: it was just that waking up next to Gray this morning was quite a shock and he couldn't remember how the two got into that position! Gray seemed just as surprised as he was. Did Gray also not have any idea how they ended up sleeping together?

-Dragneel Residence-

Gray picked at his jacket sleeve for the umpteenth time while his mother drove them to Natsu's house; needless to say, he was feeling really nervous of seeing the other teen considering they woke up sleeping together! And not only sleeping together but actually waking up with their limbs twisted and turned around the other. It if wasn't for the morning sun waking both of them up, Lyon would have had seen quite a scene! Natsu's head had found its way comfortably onto his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around his lower torso. Their legs had become entangled; the raven had to shake his head quickly to try and cool his head as his mom parked the car. He had just told himself that he would be taking things slower and yet they ended up in such a compromising position!

"Ah! Ur-san! Come in. Come in." Igneel smiled as the whole family entered his Cape Cod home; Gray avoided eye contact and quickly adverted his attention elsewhere.

The parents went straight to work to chatting things up; "You know... its weird... Mom seems to be getting along with Mr. Dragneel awfully quick," Gray's onyx eyes shifted to his sister, "You'd think they already knew each other or something," Ultear added with an annoyed sigh before leaving her brother in the living room.

Gray pushed aside his sister's remark as he began wandering around like a child would; a staircase in the opposite end of the living room perked the raven's curiosity further. He quietly ascended the light oak steps finding himself at the end of a long hallway; he crept down the hall noticing an open door leading to a simple bathroom, which he walked past. The next door he came across was across from another door, he slowly opened the door and one guess clued him in that it was probably Igneel's. He shut the door and went straight to the door across from it: the room was fairly empty and dark; he walked inside cautiously glancing around not sure where the light switch might be. In the dimly-(moonlight)lit room, Gray could vaguely make out a rectangle object beside the window. He picked it up gingerly, realizing it was a picture frame, and squinted to try and make-out what the image was. Suddenly the room was enveloped in light, the raven swung around with the frame still in his hand to see a wide-eyed Natsu behind him!

"What... what are you doing?" Gray looked down, a little embarrassed and it was then that he noticed what the image was: a woman with the same rosy hair as Natsu and light grey eyes. Tanned hands gently pulled the frame away from his pale hands; it was then that the raven noticed his friend's entire body language became soft and gentle.

"This is my mother," a soft smile as he spoke appeared, "She died when I was just a kid so I don't really remember much but I remember she always read me the same book every night," onyx eyes perked up in interest as Natsu continued, "Precious Moments: Bedtime Stories" He added, chuckling a little before he placed the frame back on the small table, where Gray now noticed also had a small vase of fresh daisies on top.

"So are you going to tell me: why you're upstairs?" Natsu pushed his previous question, not really upset but was curious, without turning to face the other.

"I was just wandering around..." It wasn't entirely a lie but it also wasn't the complete truth.

"Follow me," The rosette walked past his friend without glancing at him; he could hear the raven following behind him as he lead him down to the last door, which opened up to-

"Wait, this is your room?" Gray was pretty impressed: bookcases filled with books framed the window on the facing wall; the large king-size mattress adorned with black sheets and comforter with three red-covered pillows; and on the other wall of the room stood a relatively large TV!

"Not as great as your room but it works fo-"

"What are you talking about? Your room is amazing! All your really missing is a game system but hell with all these books," stepping closer, "I wouldn't mind living here as well," Gray chuckled as he browsed through the books.

"I don't think you could handle waking up to..." The rosette's voice went quiet and the raven stopped his browsing; the recollection that they had woken up so close to one another was still fresh in their minds.

Gray swallowed the thick lump in his throat before he broke the silence: "About that," drawing out his words as he turned around to face the other, "I'm sorry," Natsu's eyes widened a fraction, "I couldn't sleep and... uh... l-let's j-just forget about it" After stumbling with a reasonable excuse, the raven left it at asking him to forget it happened. Even though he didn't want him to.

"But..." Natsu began, wanting to bring up the image of Gray hovering over him so close; he was very sure it was real but before he could add on they heard their names: "Natsu! Gray! Come downstairs! Dinner's ready!" from Igneel.

"Coming!" Both boys replied in unison before they headed downstairs without another word.

Dinner was a little awkward for the two teens sitting beside one another; every time they brushed against one another, they quickly pulled away embarrassed. Their antics, luckily, went unnoticed by their everyone at the table; they ate with the constant reminder of waking up together and both of their personal feelings towards the other clouding their minds that they weren't even paying attention to their parents making plans for them!

"Gray, that sounds nice doesn't it?" His mom's voice broke Gray's train of thoughts; the teen looked up confused as he slowly chewed on a piece of chicken from the curry they were having for dinner.

Taking her son's look for one that said he hadn't been paying attention, she repeated the offer: "Igneel offered to let you stay the night in thanks for you taking care of Natsu,"

"Y-Yeah, s-sounds great mom" It wasn't that the raven didn't want to stay here: he did! He was just afraid of what might happen between him and his newly-found crush.

Nervousness was evident of both teen's faces, who went back to eating their dinner without conversing with anyone; Ur and Igneel's conversation seemed never-ending as the parents ignored as their sons shuffled upstairs and Ultear and Lyon started dozing on the couch. Maybe it was their silence at dinner but upon entering his room again, Natsu blurted out: "Gray... I-I can't f-forget," the raven stared wide-eyed at the rosette's back who merely slowly turned around as he added, "I-I," pausing for a second before, "I distinctly remember you-you h-h-hov-vering," he began stumbling over his words and soon his mouth was moving but no words left his mouth.

Not that Gray needed them. He realized that Natsu had really seen him hovering over the other; raven hair swished to the side in act to hide the embarrassment evident of Gray's face. With that simple act, Natsu could only conclude: "That wasn't a dream,"

The sound of actual relief instead of disgust caused onyx eyes flash over to the relieved expression plastered over his friend's entire body; cobalt eyes met onyx ones and the two found themselves unable to turn away.

"So what do we do?" Natsu wondered out loud.

"Dunno," The answer seemed unacceptable to both of them as their eyes took a moment of break before locking back onto the pair across from them.

As if mirroring one another, they walked forward too entranced to pull their eyes away from one another; it wasn't long that they found themselves as close as they were on stage in front of their classmates. Natsu, wondering if the book might be worth checking out again, as his cobalt eyes mirrored Gray's onyx ones that lowered their gaze until butterflies erupted in his stomach from the feeling of having his lips stared at. Any further hesitation was thrown to the wind as the space suddenly disappeared between them and the two found themselves lip-locked. The kiss was different than the one they did at school...

Different than the kiss Gray planted on the sleeping Natsu at the beginning...

This kiss was gentle, as if to push them beyond the point of no return, and pure without any lust desires to push it further; Natsu's quivering hands came up to grip onto Gray's navy-blue jacket sleeve: the kiss was making him feel a little light-headed. Feeling the weight on his shoulder, the raven reluctantly pulled away far enough to separate their lips but still close enough so that their breaths mingled between them.

"Does... this mean-" Natsu still short of breath was cut off when he felt a hand ruffle his hair softly, following by: "Let mean whatever you want it to," Gray's voice showed traces of what he actually wanted to say.

"Gray! I'm leaving! Behave!" Ur's voice broke off any replies from the now flustered rosette, who seemed to only remember now that their parents were downstairs.

"I will! See ya, Mom!" Gray hollered back before standing up and offering a hand to his still friend.

-11:58 pm-

Natsu laid restless in his bed, he glanced over at what he guessed was the sleeping form of the raven a few feet away; maybe it was the kiss that got his brain running in hyper-drive but he soon found himself asking in a low voice: "Gray, let's go somewhere tomorrow..."

No response.

"There's a place I've been wanting to go to," chuckling dryly, "but you know me... too scared to go," He added in a pained whisper as he rolled to his side unaware of the shifting taking place before him.

"Lisanna's grave, huh?" Gray suddenly appeared in front of him, illuminated by the street lamps outside, with a soft smile.

A short nod later, Gray whispered: "I'll go with you..." as he stroked rosy locks in hopes to comfort the other.

The soft snore that followed proved he was successful in his mission; Gray smiled and left a quick peck on the tanned forehead before crawling back onto the spare mattress on the floor.


	12. Lisanna's Grave

Chapter Eleven: Lisanna's Grave

As decided, the duo boarded the subway train with only their cell phones and a little cash in their pockets. They were heading to Edolas, Gray's previous residence and the town where Lisanna had been buried. Igneel had told his son the address because it would be Natsu's first time visiting his former girlfriend's grave.

"Those heading for Edolas... There will be a five minute delay," The announcement broke through the trance the rosette had fallen into.

A firm grasp on his shoulder made the teen glance over to see Gray with knowing and comforting gaze in his eyes. A small smile appeared on his features; he probably never would have had the confidence to visit the grave if Gray didn't agree to tag-along. As much as his chest ached at the thought of seeing the gravestone, he had something important to tell her -her remains, to be exact-...

"Arriving at the Edolas station... Please wait until the door open," Someone announced over the intercom breaking the rosette's concentration within his thoughts.

Natsu wasn't the only one who walked along the Edolas streets with heavy thoughts weighting his mind down into god-knows-what. The raven knew it wasn't going to be easy for his friend seeing his former girlfriend's grave, which also meant that it would be final: his first friend was really never coming back. It wasn't hard to find the graveyard - Edolas was a small quaint town. Upon entering they agreed to split up and look separately for Lisanna's grave: both secretly hoping that the other wouldn't find it first. Natsu, for the first time in a long time, was feeling confident about admitting something while Gray also had something to say to her grave. Although he wished to find Natsu's former girlfriend's grave, Gray had his own agenda; once his friend was far enough away, he sighed with a heavy heart. After hearing the name of the person who saved him a year ago, he was glad that Natsu had asked him to go to Edolas with him. He now had an excuse to visit this person's grave. Onyx eyes glanced over each grave he passed; after seven rows towards the back, he knelt down in front of a small wide grey gravestone. Running pale fingers against the etching, his heart sank a little as he read the name out loud: "Lisanna Strauss"

Gray raised his head to locate the other; "Natsu! I found it!" he yelled once he saw the mob of rosy-hair entering another row of graves.

He knew he only had a little time to say what he wanted to say, "I know my mom sends flowers to your grave every few months since my surgery. I'm sorry I never came to thank you for," pausing to chuckle dryly, "well, not for dying that night but for giving me the chance to fall in love with the person I know you wanted to be happy. Maybe its because there's a part of you inside..." his voice trailed off before he could finish as he heard Natsu approach, slightly out of breath.

Natsu knelt down beside Gray; his cobalt eyes held so many unstable emotions as his tanned fingers brushed against her name.

"Lisanna..." Her name seemed to drop out of his mouth as he saw the remaining writing on the grave: "Loving sister, Loving friend, and life-saver"

The last word seemed to confuse the rosette, who knelt down and repeated the word: "l-l-life-saver?"

He wondered what it referred to; he wasn't given much time before he heard: "N-Natsu?"

Both teens' heads swung almost off their necks as they saw Mirajane, Lianna's older sister, standing behind them. The woman merely smiled when she saw she was right; she erased the distance and crouched down next to the rosy teen whispering, "Thank you for coming, Natsu... I'm sure it made her happy to see how you've grown" it was evident that she was trying not to break down.

Instead of feeling guilty for not coming, Natsu embraced his former girlfriend's sister as Gray quietly excused himself to give the two some space. He could tell his friend wanted to apologize and still have him near so the raven stood a little distance away.

"I'm sorry, Mira" The rosette apologized as the woman in his arms broke down.

"I was so afriad that something bad happened between you two! Y-You suddenly distanced yourself and it seemed whenever we wanted to check on you... y-you'd hide-"

"Nothing bad happened between us... I'm sorry I avoided you... I was afriad. Afriad you and Elfman hated me for surviving when L-Lisanna d-didn't..."

"You idiot, we could never be mad at you for that," Mirajane chuckled, hugging the stuttering teen as his friend merely smiled from the sidelines.

Natsu pulled away meekly asking, "Lisanna saved a life?" pointing to the etching on the stone.

"Ah! You noticed, hmm? She did," The woman smiled, as she added: "but sadly..." with her voice trailing off.

"She wasn't able to meet the person she saved because she died," Gray cut in, wanting to end this conversation quickly for some reason.

"Yeah," she smiled over at the raven before noticing the unstable emotions swarming in the cobalt eyes before her, "You may have been one person who lived but that was something Lisanna wanted more than anything! There was one other person she saved - this person is the reason for the words 'life-saver' on her grave... She donated a liver to save a very sick person," Natsu seemed to brightened up slightly before he commented: "She died and another lived... Just like me and her,"

"And there should not be a day that goes by where you shouldn't be enjoy the life she gave you both," smiling, "I'm sure she doesn't regret it. Lisanna, you always meant a lot to her... She was always so determined to make you happy," Mirajane stood up, dusting herself off before offering to drive them to the train station.

"Is that okay with you, Gray?" Natsu's question seemed to linger in the air as the raven seemed in turmoil within his own thoughts; the rosette quickly walked over to his friend.

"You okay?" He asked as he bought a hand up and began rubbing Gray's arm in comforting manner.

"Huh? Ah," hesitating for a moment, "I-I'm f-fine," The raven lied, smiling in hopes to strengthen his lie enough so the rosette wouldn't notice.

Watching the duo's exchange made the woman sigh before patting Natsu's shoulder commenting, "I just remember I have something to do... so I can't drive you guys," with a smile as she left the two males in the graveyard.

"Hungry?" The rosette turned to his friend, who nodded his head before heading away from the tree as Natsu glanced back muttering: "Lisanna... I'm sorry but I've fallen," snickering a little, "You'd probably cheer me on from the sides, if you were still alive... I've decided... I'll do exactly what Gray has done: I'll live my life like I hadn't before" before he chased after his raven friend.


	13. A Christmas Dilemma

Chapter Twelve: A Christmas Dilemma 

A lone shadow stood among the white fluff blanketing the ground; tanned hands pulled the thick cloth wrapped around his neck over his mouth and exhaled warm moist air. Natsu did this a lot whenever something was troubling him during the cold winter months - usually it was either about Lisanna or the idiots at school throwing worst insults at him. No, this year was different. This year the thing troubling was-

"Natsu, you ready?" A knowing smile spread across his tanned features; Gray had invited him to hang-out with his friends (minus the girls) in hopes to help the rosette open up more.

-his best friend.

"Yeah, I'm coming" Natsu swung around, grinning; it seemed that whenever the rosette did that, Gray would revert back to his usual self.

"A cake shop?" A tanned finger pointed at the shop they had stopped in front of; confusion swirling in his eyes as his friend merely sighed, "Yeah - just don't tell Erza or Lucy about this place."

Before he could ask why, Natsu understood the moment they entered; Jellal and Loki were both obviously flirting with two of the waitresses - "So that's why," he deadpanned, pointing to their friends.

"Yeah," Gray muttered as he walked over to them with Natsu in suit.

Loki immediately greeted them as Jellal simply nodded his head before they both did the very thing that both Gray and Natsu hated: "This is my friend, (Gray / Natsu) - You see, he's such a great guy but he just hasn't found a girl to really love him,"

"Jellal!" "Loki!" A united burst of anger as the rosette yelled Loki's name and the raven yelled Jellal's name; the other two teen simply laughed it off as if to say they were just joking.

Gray and Natsu scooted into the empty booth before they placed an order with one of the love-struck waitresses, unaware that their actions were being observed by their two friends. Cobalt eyes glanced over to the troubled raven, who took no notice of him before sighing; "Hey Natsu," the rosette perked up in response, "Let's go see the cake they have on display," Loki suggested as he stood up and pulled Natsu by the arm out of the booth, leaving Jellal and Gray alone.

When they were far enough away, Jellal spoke up: "You know, acting like that will only make him more upset"

"Who?" Gray asked, uninterested in their conversation.

"Natsu,"

Onyx eyes widened a fraction, which didn't go unnoticed by the male across from him who added: "It seems that these past few months, our little new friend has been getting more down every time I see him with you" point-blank.

"That's because... uh-"

"What's been bothering you?"

"..."

"It's fine if you don't tell me but I would suggest: telling him,"

Their conversation came to an end when Loki and Natsu re-appeared; the rosette grinning again ranting on about how delicious the cakes looked. Onyx eyes wandered over to his now-talkative best friend - a small smile appeared when he thought back to how the other used to act when in the presence of others. Nowadays it seemed that Natsu was more talkative in front Loki, Jellal, and Lucy - he's still pretty silent in front of Erza though but that makes sense... Erza is scary!

"What is it, Gray?" Cobalt eyes now facing him with a dusting spread across his face; the raven chuckled, "Nothing, just thinking"

"So Loki, have you picked out Lucy's present yet?" Directing his attention in hopes to force his blush to go away; Natsu turned to his orange-haired friend with a wide a grin.

Christmas was in two weeks; it was a busy time especially for Igneel's bookstore, which meant Gray and Natsu spent less and less time together. The rosette was actually wondering if it was okay to buy his raven best friend a gift as well as the others. He had, when the idea first came to him, made a dash for the mall buying a gift for Lucy, Erza, and Loki. Oh, and Jellal but as he wandered around carrying bags: he had a harder time deciding what was a good gift for Gray.

'Maybe its because I like him... as more,' As days passed since his shopping trip: the thought seemed to make more and more sense to the somewhat clueless rosette. Natsu's attention dove towards Loki as the orange-haired male replied, "Y-yeah... I hope,"

"Don't know if its something she'd like?" Gray chimed in.

"More like... if she'd even want a gift from me..." Natsu was surprised to hear that Loki and Lucy weren't dating despite the way they acted when they were together; hearing the obvious depressing thoughts that haunted his own mind the rosette voiced this thoughts about thinking like that: "I-I d-don't think you should w-worry about that, Loki," he could feel three pair of eyes float over towards him as he added, "Anyone would be happy getting a gift from someone especially if there is a lot of thought and emotion behind it," growing quieter, "or so I read in a book."

Silence fell before the remaining three burst out laughing at their friend's last comment; a small pout formed on an embarrassed rosette but dissolved when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder followed by: "Sorry... we're not laughing at you... we just weren't expecting you to say you learned it in a book,"

A smile spread across Gray's features, which lead to one mirroring on the rosette's as well.

"So what did you get for her, Loki?" Their moment ended when cobalt eyes forced themselves away from onyx eyes as Natsu spoke to his friend.

"A necklace with a gold key that has the mark of a leo on it," Loki muttered as a smirk instantly broke out on Jellal's face.

"And you, Jellal? What did you get Erza? You two are dating," The raven sighed, pushing aside his own depressing thoughts over what to do (if anything at all) for Natsu.

Jellal suddenly seemed nervous as he replied, "Nothing really... just a strawberry bracelet charm," before flipping through his phone's photos and turning it to show the image he had been searching for: an image of a small strawberry charm.

A few years ago, Jellal had gotten Erza a charm bracelet shortly after they started dating; once a year, he would buy a new charm for her. Gray had explained to Natsu one day after they had all hung out together about Erza's bracelet she always wore and stared at; the raven, himself had been told in a similar way from Loki, who had been Jellal's friend long enough to witness the event himself.

"So are you two getting anyone special something for Christmas?" The two previously-interrogated boys asked in unison at the two across from them, who edged back in their seats.

"Ummmm..."

"errrrrrrrrr..."

Both teens seemed to have trouble coming up with an answer that wouldn't lead them to anything bad and as if completely in-sync with one another: their heads lowered to hide their blushing faces as they replied together: "Dunno" in defeat.

"Maybe it'll come to you..." Loki began, seeing his friends like this left him in no mood to tease either of them.

"This person must be really special so don't think too hard on it... just remember what Natsu said..." Jellal added, sipping his forgotten soda, which calmed the duo before them down by leaps and bounds.

A soft buzz erupted from the rosette's coat; a text from his dad showed on his screen: "I gotta go guys... see ya," Natsu excused himself, putting his coat on on his way out.

"So this person..." Loki began, the moment Natsu was out of sight.

"...it wouldn't happen to be Natsu, would it?" Jellal chimed in, teasing the raven who had been left alone with them.

"W-What a-are y-you talking about?" Gray muttered, resting his cheek on the palm on his hand.

"Spill or I'll tell Erza,"

"and I'll tell Lucy"

The dynamic duo wasn't letting their poor friend off easily; the raven sighed deeply before confessing with a small pout: "I'm in love with Natsu..."

"Does he know?" The orange-haired teen asked, seeming unfazed by the confession.

"I can't tell..." lowering his head until it reached the table in defeat.

"So then you haven't just been up-front about it?" Jellal growled, poking his friend's head hard earning an onyx glare almost instantly.

"Shaddup," getting quiet, "I know that..." The raven muttered, running a hand through his hair.

-Igneel's Book Store-

Natsu was helping out a customer when he overheard a small child muttering; he excused himself before poking his head over towards the source to see a small boy standing in front of the children's books... by himself. The sight alone made the rosette walk over to the child and crouch down asking gently, "Can I help you with something?"

The small raven-haired boy turned around replying sadly, "I'm trying to find a book,"

"Okay... Do you know what sort of book?"

"Umm... Mavis-chan likes colorful books with lots of pictures of princesses!" The boy's dark eyes seemed to lighten up as he spoke.

Natsu stood up, grabbing one of the new books that had just been received and handed it over to the child with a smile, "Do you think this'll work?"

He watched as the raven child leafed through the pages carefully before closing it and nodding his head; "Yes, thank you... ummm..."

"Natsu and yours?"

"Natsu-oniitan... I'm Zeref,"

"Ready to buy, Zeref?" Natsu's question got an automatic nod; the rosette lead the boy over to the cash register as he asked another question: "So what grade are you in, Zeref?"

"Fourth, what about you Natsu-oniitan?"

"Eleventh... so is Mavis-chan someone special?"

"Yup! I'm gonna marry her when we're older!"

An exchange of money and then: "Do you have someone you like?"

"Yeah..."

"Did you get them something for Christmas?"

"Not yet..."

Small hands grabbed Natsu's tanned hand as Zeref gasped, "You have to hurry! Santa won't be able to deliver your present - Mommy says if someone is special to you... You have to give them a present yourself and not depend on Santa to do it,"

"You're right... Now go home," Natsu smiled down before ruffling the raven locks of the child.


	14. Never Go Wrong With Handmade

Chapter Thirteen: Never Go Wrong With Handmade

Natsu sat on the hard cushion seats, shifting along with the other passengers on the subway train as it traveled along the tracks until it came to a stop at the Edolas Train Station. The rosette stood up and pushed himself out of the metal cage and onto the somewhat empty platform; he pulled his white muffler closer to his face as the cold winter air hit his face before heading out onto the snowy landscape carrying only a few gift bags in one hand. His destination wouldn't take him long and soon he found himself walking past white mounds until he stopped in front of one he was looking for: "Hey... Lisanna," reaching into one of the bags before pulling out a single pink rose.

"Merry Christmas," A small smile appeared as he placed the flower gently on top of the snow in front of the grave, unaware that he was being watched afar.

"Natsu..." The rosette immediately turned to see Mirajane, standing behind him and along side her was Elfman.

"Hi..." Small butterflies erupted in his stomach - sure he had overcame his anxiety of seeing Mirajane but he hadn't really talked to Elfman since Lisanna's death; Natsu lifted two small gift bags to the Strauss siblings, which both took slowly from his outstretched hand.

Inside the gift bag for Mirajane was charm bracelet with a small white flower charm dangling from it. Elfman's bag revealed a black watch with a silver face; both siblings smiled at the gifts given to them. They thanked the rosette before exchanging hugs and not long after did the trio find themselves in a coffee shop where Mira already had Natsu stuttering: "I-I d-don't k-know wh-what yo-you'r-re talk-king about,"

"C'mon Natsu, you've been going to Lisanna's grave ever since you first came here with your friend," sighing, "and only seem to come whenever something is bothering you," softening her tone, "so tell me... what's bothering you?"

"I can't find a present," Natsu gave in as his shoulder slumped while feelings of hopelessness threatened to wash over him.

"A present?" Elfman questioned receiving a mere nod from the other male before said male spoke again: "I have a really important friend," Natsu paused for a moment as the venomous word left a bad taste in his mouth, "and I don't know what to get..."

"Important friend? As in girlfriend?" Natsu blushed at the thoughts that were now popping up in his head - many of which refused to stop.

"Why not a scarf or a hat? I can lend you the book that taught me~" Mirajane suggested after watching the rosette's face tint a shade close to his rosy hair.

Cobalt eyes widened before he nodded; honestly Natsu had never thought to give Gray something handmade so waiting on the train platform for Mirajane to return with the book put a skip in the rosette's step as the excitement bubbled up inside him. Once Mira had arrived and handed over the book, the rosette was on his way home reading the book with eager eyes. Natsu was so interested in reading that he didn't notice all the things he was doing; it wasn't until he heard his dad's voice that he soon realized he had just walked the whole way home from the station, reading!

"What was that dad?" He asked scratching the back of his head.

"I said 'Gray is waiting for you in your room'," Igneel repeated patting his son's head with a smile, knowing what his son had done but wasn't going to ask just how far he had been reading and walking.

Natsu walked inside the warm house, kicking off his shoes and winter coat before running upstairs with the bag in his hand; he opened the door to his room to see the raven was in fact really in his room.

"I hope you didn't wait here too long," He greeted his friend as he quickly hid the bag Mirajane had given him behind him before Gray could turn around and see it.

"Nah, I just got here a few moments ago..." The raven lied; he had actually gotten there around noon but he didn't mind the four and a half hour wait for the rosette to return.

"So what's up?" His white muffler, still wrapped around his neck snugly, provided protection from the raven seeing the pink dusting his tanned cheeks behind it; he plopped down on the edge of his bed.

"Nothing... just we haven't really hung out just us since winter began," Gray plopped down into one of the bean-bag chairs that the rosette had recently gotten, stretching his legs out.

Natsu couldn't argue with that; ever since the holiday shopping began: he had been busy helping out at the bookstore everyday and practically every weekend. The thought about working at the bookstore brought the memory of talking to Zeref to the front of his mind - cobalt eyes glanced over at the relaxed sight of his best friend and crush: "Finished your Christmas shopping yet?"

"Yeah... more or less," A murmur followed by Igneel's voice yelling up the stairs for Natsu and Gray.

"Comi-"a loud thud caused a rosy-haired male's head to spin as his body pieced together what had just happened.

His ankle said he had just trip over something that oddly felt like a leg while his wrist spoke of being grabbed roughly and later yanked to the side that possibly lead him to be in this situation. Cobalt eyes focused on the image in front of him before they slowly widened in unison with the pair of eyes beneath him. A pale hand had slackened its grip around a tanned wrist as the duo stared at one another, neither moving. Neither wanting to move. A side thought of comfort passed through their minds as their bodies realized there was no awkward spots of discomfort between them. A curious pair of eyes trailed down until they stopped on the others lips and soon the distance between their lips slowly dissolved until...

"Natsu! Gray! C'mon! Dinner is gonna get cold!" Gray froze, mere moments from kissing Natsu, whose eyes had slipped down to half-mast but upon hearing his dad's voice shot open.

They scrambled away from one another and downstairs to see dinner ready for three: chicken Alfredo, that looked good enough to make the teens drool in anticipation for their meal as they sat down next to each other, pushing aside their previous actions. And with dinner out of the way, Gray headed home making the excuse that his mom was probably getting worried. Or at least tried to.

"Don't worry about it, Gray... I called Ur shortly after Natsu got home... she said you could stay over if you like," Igneel explained, ruffling the raven locks whose owner pouted a little.

"Huh? Gray's staying over...? But dad, don't you have work tonight?"

"Yeah... Christmas Eve is the hardest night of them all but don't worry... You and Gray stay here," The father smiled before slipping his coat on and left the boys.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Natsu suggested when the silence between them became unbearable; the other merely muttered a 'sure' before they walked into the living room.

They surfed through the channels until they stumbled upon an intro to a movie; they settled into the couch as the movie began. It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes into the movie that the movement beside Natsu became a little annoying; he glared over only to have his glare soften into a look of concern. Gray sat with his legs hugging his chest and face buried into the rosette's arm; right as he was about to comfort his friend the lights suddenly went out and the raven jumped before holding tighter.

"G-Gray... Calm down... the snow probably knocked the power out," Natsu's voice was gentle and soothing to the other's pale ears; he still refused to let go of the other's arm even when Natsu tried to go flip the breaker for the power.

"Then come with me," And so the duo padded around the dark empty house, occasionally bumping into objects but with the rosette leading the way they soon found themselves, much to the raven's dismay, into a pitch-black room. Flipping a few switches only to prove useless and soon Natsu sighed, wishing he hadn't forgotten his cell phone upstairs. Cell phone...

"Hey Gray, do you have your cell on you?" No reply, only a tightening pressure on his arm.

"Let's go upstairs," Cobalt eyes had grown accustom to the moon-lit house as he lead them upstairs and into his room.

Natsu guided his scared friend over to his bed so he could sit down but his actions to gently push the raven to sit and relax caused the teen to yank them both down onto the bed one on top of another.

"Gray, you okay?" coughed Natsu, getting his senses back on track before noticing their positions.

He was straddling his friend's waist; Gray noticed next as he spoke, glad that it was too dark for the other to see the red tinting his face: "Yeah... sorry about that, Natsu... I can't handle scary movies at all,"

"Its okay, I guess... I mean, everyone has something they can't handle"

Sensing the other's unease, he rolled onto his side so he was lying down beside his friend before whispering: "Just sleep it off... I'm here,"

-11:45 pm-

Natsu quietly sat on his bed, with his cell phone as the only source of light as he followed the instruction in Mira's book. He had been relieved when he saw the color of yarn - blue - but wondered how she figured to give him a less-girly color for a gift. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he continued determined to finish before Gray woke up. He connected the yarn where it needed to be and before he could connect the final part he felt the bed shift. Natsu froze but relaxed when he glanced over to see the still-sleeping raven; he quickly connected the last part before he inspected his work.

"Looks pretty bad... I can't give this to him," He muttered, stuffing the crappy piece of work under his pillow before giving in.

Sleep consumed him almost instantly; he slept through the next set of shifting which involved both of them curling closer to one another - Natsu resting his head on the expanding chest of his crush, whose arms loosely wrapped themselves around the other.


	15. Merry Christmas

Chapter Fourteen: Merry Christmas

"Looks pretty bad... I can't give this to him,"

/ - /

Warmth. Comfort. Together mixed with a side dish of dread as waves of sun-rays poked fun at his sleep-encased eyelids; cobalt eyes warily opened to peer over at the digital clock across the room before his brain registered the reason why the numbers were blinking: power outage. Scary movie. Gray holding onto him. Straddling his friend's hips. Sleeping next to one another. Cobalt eyes glided up across the plain of paleness he had been resting on as he slowly turned his head up until the dark orbs widened at the sight of Gray, so close. Tanned hands slipped away from the slowly rising and falling chest to push Natsu up slightly, who was attempting to find why his legs weren't listening. A quick peek only slapped the rosette in the face as he saw that Gray had a hand lightly holding his waist in place and his legs seemed too content to listen. As if sensing something bothering the other, the raven's groggy voice broke the silence: "What's wrong?"

"B-bathroom," Natsu took the chance when the hold loosened to climb over his sleeping friend and dash out of the room, leaving Gray to merely roll over and fall back to sleep until-

"Huh?" Onyx eyes opened as his hand, which had slipped under the rosette's pillow, pulled out a blue yarn hat and a ball of yarn; the hat hadn't been cut off from the ball yet, which the raven thought that maybe his friend had worked on it recently.

Curiosity getting the best of him, the raven tried the hat on; "...perfect fit..." he muttered as he took the hat off again right before Natsu re-entered the room. The scene before the rosette made his face burst into a color that matched his hair exactly: Gray was holding the hat he had finished making last night in his hands! Neither of them spoke, letting an awkward silence befall between them; cobalt eyes looking for anything in the onyx eyes opposite of them to give him the confidence to speak. Instead something popped into his head. Something someone once told him some time ago. Who was it? Dark orbs tore away to allow his mind to focus for a bit and that's when it hit him: Lisanna! And just like that the memory of her important words that she often told him: 'Never be afraid to speak, Natsu because there will be a time when you want to say or do something for a special person,'

Inhaling before directing his attention back to the confused raven sitting on his bed, he walked over towards the edge of his bed not losing the gaze of the onyx orbs; Natsu leaned across grabbing both the small ball of yarn and the finished hat. He later walked over to his desk cutting the yarn so there was enough hanging down to tied it to the hat; swallowing back his fear, Natsu swung around and held the hat out whispering, "Merry Christmas, Gray"

Onyx eyes widened as the raven stood up and moved closer to the outstretched gift; before the rosette could react, Gray wrapped his arms around him whispering, "Thanks Natsu," softly in his ear as he tightened his hold slightly.

He had come over to tell his friend the truth but when he saw him come in: all his words that laid on the tip of his tongue evaporated and as the night moved on, the raven's previous words slowly came back to him but before he could say them - the power shut off. And now he stood holding the rosette in his arms, not caring if the other heard how fast his heart was beating, with the perfect time to say his words, which would put everything at risk between them.

"Natsu..." He drew out the other's name as he loosened his arms and put enough space between them to stare at one another, "...I... I have something important to tell you," inhaling to gather the air needed to release these words from the depth of his heart, "I-"

"Natsu! Gray! You guys awake yet?" Igneel shouted, interrupting the raven in his words. Said raven stood with wide onyx eyes as he realized what he had been just about to do; pushing aside the guilt of not being able to come right out and say it, Gray moved away from the confused rosette that now was wondering what the other was going to say. So many ending for the previous line clouded his mind as he watched his friend holler down that they were awake before his dad ask them to come downstairs.

Entering the living room, the two teens saw Ur, Ultear, and Lyon there as well but upon further staring at the room they saw nicely wrapped presents; Gray immediately asked his mom why they were here.

"Igneel and I thought since you two haven't been able to see much of one another, we'd all spend Christmas together" Ur smiled up at her son as she sat on a chair.

"Awesome..." Gray nervously chuckled as he glanced at his siblings before glancing at Igneel, who smiled back at him.

Natsu studied the unnatural actions of his friend and could only conclude that what he had to say was really important; their mini Christmas celebration ended after everyone had opened their gifts. Ultear went off to find a nice quiet place to text her friends while Lyon dragged his brother and friend outside to play, which the teens caved considering they had nothing better to do.

"So where's my gift?" Natsu quietly asked as the small silver-haired boy jumped around in the snowy landscape, trying to make his friend chuckle.

"..."

"...?..."

"You wouldn't like it..."

"Says who?"

"Me..."

"Since when were you an expert on me?" Somehow the mood between them had grown a little hostile and only worsen...

"You're not hard to read, Natsu..."

"Well, sorry for having my emotions written all over my face," Cobalt eyes hardened as they stared daggers at the innocent snowy ground beneath him.

"..."

"..."

"I'll find you something else..."

"I want what you originally got me,"

"No, you don't"

"Yes. I. Do."

Onyx and cobalt orbs met, both mixed with different emotions except one that resided in both their stares: irritation. Irritation at the other for being so stubborn over a gift. A pale hand grabbed the rosette's arm and dragged him a few feet away from the oblivious child and watching adults.

"Fine... You want the damn present... Here it is," inhaling as if to calm himself down and before Natsu could register what happened next: it happened.

Cobalt eyes widened to see pale skin that was close and a smell that couldn't be mistaken; the rest of his body finally sent their signals to let his brain know what was happening: Gray was kissing him. Pale hands had a grip on the front of his coat, which slowly loosened when the rosette began to slow kiss back, before falling and weaving their fingers into Natsu's. Pulling away to slow their beating hearts and to fulfill their need for air, the duo stared at one another as if memorized by the other before Gray broke through it: "I guess I was wrong," as a small smile erupted on his face.

"...!..." Dark color flushed the rosette's face as it dawned on him that the kiss was the raven's present to him; his reaction made his friend chuckle before leaning in and kissing his cheek then whispering, "There's more... but you'll have to wait until later when we're alone."

The raven moved away and jogged back before tossing a snowball at his little brother, which lead to a cute snowball fight between the two. The rosette walked back to them slowly as he tried to will his blush away, which was proving hard until-

"MPPH!" A lump of cold liquid hit him in the face; as the snow fell from his face he saw the shivering form of Gray laughing his ass off in the snow and pointing to him.


	16. Who Said Fairy Tales Only Happens In Books?

Final Chapter: Who Said Fairy Tales Only Happens In Books?

Natsu sat curled up in a blanket with a steaming hot cup of cocoa, thinking back on the snowball fight he had had with Lyon and Gray; the thought of the raven's name made the rosette sink within the blanket as he wondered 'what now'. What'll become of them? Gray did just confess to him, well in not so many words... Well, more like no words at all. Numb tanned fingers slipped out of the blanket's warmth to press against the rosette's lips gingerly as he stared at the dark liquid in the cup; cobalt orbs swept away from the steamy liquid past the giggling child on the floor before stopping at their target, who sat on the edge of the couch with his back to Natsu.

Swallowing his fear, the chilled teen slipped away from his spot on the large bay window sill just as Lyon finished his cocoa and ran out of the room - leaving the two love-struck teens alone. Natsu quietly walked over to his friend and asked n a low voice, "Mind if I sit next to you?"

Onyx eyes swept up and over the couch frame before softening enough to melt any of the chills from the rosette instantly; a soft pat made them smile before he sat down beside the raven. The duo sat in silence before Gray whispered: "Would it be fine if we went out tonight to talk?"

"Sure..." was the only thing the rosette could say before Igneel and Ur came out asking the boys if they had any ideas for a Christmas dinner.

-After Dinner-

Natsu and Gray excused themselves after they were done eating before both boys tugged their coats on along with their boots; within minutes both teens were out the door and surrounded by snow. They had agreed that the rosette would pick the most secluded area for their talk so hand-in-hand he lead his friend through the snowy landscape.

"Really? Cliche much?" Gray remarked once they had stopped in the rosette's chosen spot; said teen blushed before muttering: "Well, excuse me... but it was the first spot I could think of..."

"It works... considering..." The raven blush could be seen even under the dim lighting of the street lamps; it was now-or-never: he didn't want to risk any misunderstandings and he really didn't feel right about not admitting his feelings out loud through words.

Inhaling deeply before breathing out long puffs of warm air with his words, "I like you, Natsu... as more than a friend,"

"I like you too, Gray" Natsu's smile made the raven's face contorted as his eyes filled with pain but also relief as the love-struck teen whispered, "Don't let that be a lie for my sake,"

"Trust me: it isn't... I spent a lot of time thinking about it. About you," Natsu looked to the sky as he spoke before slowly letting it fall until his eyes locked with Gray's while he spoke the last two words.

"Sorry that my gift was pretty cliche and all," The raven chuckled, scratching his cheek in embarrassment upon thinking about the hat he had gotten from Natsu.

"Gift? I seem to have forgotten getting one from you," rubbing in his chin as he looked to the side innocently, "so you might have to remind me what it was," He added with a grin.

"So you forgot, eh?" Onyx orbs didn't miss the glint of mischief in the other's eyes but regardless pale hands cupped tanned cheeks as he added, "Who taught you to act like this,"

"Jellal," The rosette chuckled as the raven moved closely slowly before muttering, "Remind me to kill him later," moments before their lips met.

The kiss, now anticipated on both sides, was no longer backed by desperation for the other but now total affection for the other. Gray's hands slipped down from his boyfriend's cheeks before weaving themselves with Natsu's hands; they pulled away only to rest their foreheads against one another, passing warm moist air between them for a bit before Natsu spoke: "Dumb question but," pausing to catch his breath, "this means we're dating, right?"

"Two things... first, not a dumb question and second, I hope so because I really like you," The duo chuckled quietly at the waves of happiness flooding their bodies.

"We should head back before they get mad," Gray suggested in a light manner as he released one of his boyfriend's hands and held tighter to the other.

Natsu merely nodded as the two walked back, hand-in-hand, smiling and blushing the whole way back to the rosette's house; Gray was first to notice something was strange on the porch so as he slowed his pace his boyfriend took notice of what had caught his eye: their parents on the the porch staring at them with knowing looks. Neither of the teens wanted to let go first as they stopped at the foot of the porch steps, looking up at their own parent with eyes filled worry and determination not to let go.

"So, wanna explain boys," Ur spoke first, eyeing her son first then Natsu.

"There's nothing to explain, Mom... It's exactly how it looks," The raven kept his voice calm and collected so he wouldn't piss his mother off.

"And how does it look, Natsu?" Igneel questioned his son before glancing down at the entwined hands.

The rosette inhaled before replying back with the courage of his boyfriend's words: "We're dating, dad"; the words made both teen tighten their grip on the other's hand.

"You heard them, Igneel... Our sons are dating"

"I see that, Ur... but I suppose its about time,"

Neither teen could believe what their parent had just said!

"Wait! You were expecting this?" Gray asked in disbelief.

"Yeah... we even had a little bet about it~" Ur chuckled at her son's reaction to her answer.

"Well as I mentioned earlier, I owe you one request then, Ur..."

"What was the bet?" Natsu chimed in, pouting.

"Whether Gray or yourself would admit to the other that you liked them," Igneel scratched the back of his head as he replied, chuckling a little.

"So why did you think I would admit first?" Cobalt eyes narrowed at his carefree father, who replied point-blank: "Because you and that nice Lisanna Strauss had 'dated' so I figured you-"

"Wait... You mean the girl who died in a car accident in Edolas a year ago?" Ur interrupted the older man with a curious look in her eye.

"Yes, did you know her?" Igneel, knowing his son felt a little at ease nowadays when her name was mentioned, asked.

"More or less... She actually saved Gray's life," All eyes drifted over to the raven who made his eyes directed to the ground beneath him as his mother continued: "About a year ago, Gray was in need of a new liver and quickly... Well it seems when we were ready to lose hope - a liver was found because as I later learned a car accident killing a girl his age had occurred... I'm not even sure if it was really from her or not but... I pay respects to her grave-"

"So that's what it meant..." Onyx eyes shifted over and widened when he locked gaze with his boyfriend, who was smiling at him.

"On Lisanna's grave it said she saved a life..." Gray explained when their parents looked at them with concern.

Their parents smiled down at them before heading inside discussing their sons' relationship, which left their sons alone in the snowy landscape. A soft tug directed the raven's attention towards the source that led to him being kissed softly by his boyfriend, who whispered as he pulled away: "I'll have to thank Lisanna for saving you as well,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- THE END -

**Author's Note:**

> Since this was one of my most popular fics on ff.net, I figured it should be the first on AO3~


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